


When Life is Pain

by The_Risen_Phoenix



Category: Final Fantasy Type-0
Genre: Angels and Demons, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Reincarnation, Suicide, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-23 05:19:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 44,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16152413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Risen_Phoenix/pseuds/The_Risen_Phoenix
Summary: Series of short stories for the Whumptober challenge





	1. Stabbed

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at one of these prompt challenge things.  
> The stories will be pretty short, and a few will probably interconnect.  
> Fingers crossed that I manage to get one of these out each day. But let me know what you think.

 

The battle was not going well. It had supposed to have been an easy mission, something to show their skills to their commander; to see if they were ready for real combat missions and not just the re-con missions that they had been stuck with since joining.

 

Yet somehow their easy mission had turned into an ambush. Scores of enemies flooded the area, weapons and magic flying through the air. Battle cries and screams of pain and anguish filled their ears.

 

Ace stood back as far as was possible, sending cards and ice magic flying towards the enemies. To his left Trey darted around shooting arrow after arrow and Cater danced around the space firing shot after shot. Surprisingly, their commander Kurasame, was fighting with both sword and magic. Though his body had been weakened by time and injury, he still fought with strength and grace.

 

His inattention cost him dearly though. While Ace was distracted by the others, he became separated and surrounded. Desperately he threw his cards as fast as he could draw them, managing to hit weak points and wear them down. Slowly but surely he was gaining the ground that he had lost, and he could see that the rest of the team were also managing to overcome the enemy.

 

Channelling his magic, Ace threw his hands down towards the ground releasing a bomb of ice magic that froze all within area. Straightening up, Ace surveyed the area noticing that against all odds, they had not only survived, but had defeated them all.

 

Turning towards his team mates to celebrate and share congratulations, Ace heard the scream of his name before a dull pressure erupted from his back. Disbelievingly Ace stared at the point of the blade protruding from his chest, hands raising to touch to metal. The blessed numbness that had prevented him from feeling the blade enter, fled the moment his hands touched steel and an agonised scream tore from his throat.

 

Hands grabbed Ace's wrists as he writhed in pain, trying to dislodge the blade and escape the pain. The sound of steel whistling through the air as it cut down the lone soldier remaining, unarmed as his blade was buried deep within the body of their team mate. His death cry was ignored, it did nothing to soothe the feelings of helplessness as Ace slowly sank to his knees wrists still held by Nine.

 

A look loaded with meaning was passed over Ace's head as Deuce came to cradle his face in her hands pressing their foreheads together. The sound of footsteps behind him barely registering in his pain filled mind. The feeling of a hand gripping the handle of the sword made Ace jolt, and the next moment his world was a haze of white hot pain and screams so loud his voice cracked.

 

Kurasame had shared a look with Nine warning him of his intentions before grabbing the hilt of the sword. At the subtle nod from the other, he pulled the steel free from the boy before him in as quick and smooth a motion as possible. As Ace collapsed, Kurasame threw the sword to the ground to help catch him, hands pressed against his back and chest trying to help stem the tide of blood pouring from the wounds.

 

Healing magic was being poured into him from several directions, but Ace was not responding. The wounds were closing, but his breathing remained ragged and shallow. Kneeling in the sand beside their team mate, brother and subordinate, they all cried out in anguish as the sound of Ace's laboured breathing slowed and then stopped.

 


	2. Bloody Hands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Stabbed.

 

Steam filled the air of the wash room as scalding water cascaded from the shower head and over the indigo haired man below.

 

The indigo haired man, Kurasame stared blankly at the tiled wall before him. Though physically here in the present, his mind was stuck hours in the past. The training exercise had been a complete and utter disaster from the beginning to the end. What was meant to be simple exercises in teamwork, had turned into a desperate fight for their lives.

 

Looking down at his hands, Kurasame could still feel the blood of one of the cadets coating them and staining them crimson. He remembered the yell as the sword had pushed into the boy's back and out through his chest. He remembered feeling rage well within him as he all but flew towards that soldier, sword raised in vengeance. He had shown no mercy to that coward, he had not deserved it. To stab another in the back was to fight without honour.

 

He scrubbed his hands and body raw. He could not bear to have any reminders of the day remain on his body. His mind was in a turmoil as he stepped out of the shower and dressed. Though the training had not gone as planned, it had proven that his class was indeed ready to take on real missions. However now that he had seen them in combat, bled with them and fought alongside them, Kurasame was unsure if he could order them to train, fight, kill every time.

 

With every kill that they made, the blood on their hands would only grow thicker and thicker until that was all they would ever be able to see on them. He wondered if they would be able to cope with that, if the lives they saved would be enough for them to be able to bear all the lives that they would take in return. Kurasame wondered if he could even remember a time when his hands felt clean.

 

Walking out of the wash room, Kurasame headed for the infirmary to check on the cadets that were wounded. He checked in with each and every person who he fought alongside, before finally making it to the last room.

 

Unlike the others, the cadet in this room was alone. Too sick to be placed with others, machines hooked up everywhere monitoring his status. Death had taken this boy into it's sweet embrace this very day, only to have him ripped away and thrust back into life in the fiery flames of rebirth. The phoenix down had left a burn mark upon the pale scarred chest, neither sword wound nor burn could be healed by any means.

 

A small price to pay to be able to sit here beside the blonde boy, listening to him breathing quietly, easily. Kurasame sat in the chair beside the bed, reaching out the touch the small, fragile hand lying motionlessly upon the bed. Turning the small hand over, Kurasame could not help the small sad smile that tugged at his lips. For these hands too, were covered in blood.

 


	3. Insomnia

 

Kurasame stood by his window, looking out into the endless night sky. The night was beautiful, filled with countless twinkling stars and not a cloud in sight to hide their shine. Though the night was beautiful, Kurasame could not help but wish that sleep would not continue to elude him.

 

Sighing quietly as he rubbed his tired eyes, Kurasame turned towards his bed where his lover lay sleeping peacefully unknowing of what would transpire the very next day.

 

Death was not a new or even frightening concept for Kurasame, he had fought and nearly lost many battles and friends over the years, but also had he never walked into a battle knowing that his death was assured. There was nothing in this world that he would rather do than to run away with his lover from the upcoming battle, but he knew his duty and if dying would help save Rubrum, then who was he to deny the Consortium their pound of flesh?

 

Kurasame climbed back into his bed and curled up under the covers around his lover. Blonde hair tickled his face as he drew the boy closer towards his chilled body, wanting to hold him for as long as he could before the new day dawned. The feeling of warm steady breaths fanning over his skin and the steady thump of the heart held beneath his hands finally lulled Kurasame to sleep.

 

 

 

Ace is not sure what woke him from his dreaming state, but now that he had awoken he could feel the last vestiges of sleep fleeing from his mind, and he knew that he would not rest again that night.

 

Snuggling further into the secure arms of his lover that held him so closely, Ace could not help but stroke over the beautiful, scarred skin before him. His ear pressed against the steady beat of Kurasame's heart soothed him, though his heart weighed heavily in his own chest.

 

Ace wriggled out of Kurasame's hold so that he could look down into his lover's sleeping face. Even in sleep this night, his brows were furrowed in worry. Ace tried to smooth out the furrows by running soothing hands over his brow, and Kurasame sighed deeply as his face smoothed out and he leant into the gentle touch.

 

Placing a soft, lingering kiss upon the newly smoothed brow, Ace gently pulled himself from Kurasame's hold and left the bed. He walked over to the window and looked out at the night sky, the moon watching over the weary and restless souls to whom sleep offered no comfort. Ace wrapped his arms around his body, not just for warmth, but to keep himself from falling apart.

 

He knew that Kurasame was unaware that Ace knew what would happen the next day, and nothing in this world would bring Ace to let him know differently. Though he did not know it, Kurasame's burden was shared. Tomorrow night this burden would no longer exist; Kurasame dead and Ace's memories of the man erased, but for tonight the weight of the world pressed down upon the two lovers.

 

Ace did not know when the tears started to fall, only that small drops of moisture ran down his cheeks and fell from his chin to land upon frozen skin.

 

Ace jumped as warm arms wrapped around him from behind, Kurasame's chest pressing against his back as his head rested upon his shoulder. But still Ace refused to look at the other man, to show him his eyes filled with tears and anguish. Gentle fingers hooked beneath his chin and turned him to face his lover, and sorrow filled eyes met his own.

 

Neither spoke a word, there was nothing that either could say in this moment. They held each other throughout the long night and watched as the sun rose in the sky banishing the watchful moon and bringing forth a new day. The lovers turned from the sun, tired eyes meeting again full of love and longing, apologies and demands. There was nothing left to be said.

 

 

That night after the battle was won, Ace lay in his bed restless. Though he was tired, he once again could not sleep. Thoughts that he had stayed up the night before filled his mind, but he could not understand why. Going into battle had never before kept him from sleep, but he knew that this insomnia that was plaguing him was not a one time thing.

 

His arms felt empty as he lay in bed, the night too silent. He felt as though he should have been holding another in his arms, hearing their heartbeat, but there was naught but loneliness and silence.

 

Rising from the bed, Ace wandered over to the window, looking out towards the night sky. The stars were covered by dark clouds, as though they were mourning and could not bear to be seen; and the moon was but a sliver of light, no longer offering protection to those who needed it this night.

 

As he stood there sleepless and alone, Ace let tears fall freely from his eyes until the sun rose again.

 


	4. No, stop!

 

Kurasame was overjoyed. After months of planning and trying to court the most popular boy in class, everything had finally paid off. He wasn't sure how he had gotten so lucky, but not only had Ace accepted when he had asked him out on that first date, but they had now been dating for the last few months.

 

Although they had not yet been intimate with each other, they had been working their way towards that steadily and Kurasame wanted things to be perfect. So for tonight's date, Kurasame had planned something special. He had booked a table at one of the most romantic restaurants in town, calling in favours from friends to be able to get a table. He had chosen a cliché option of a walk in the park, followed by moonlight ice skating to finish it off. After that, he was hoping to bring his boyfriend back to his apartment and hopefully they would take their relationship to the next level.

 

Kurasame had dressed carefully for the occasion, so as best to please his date. A dark blue shirt tucked into black pants, paired with shined black shoes and a long dark coat. He had swept his indigo hair back off his forehead and applied a woodsy cologne as a finishing touch.

 

Dinner went well, although Kurasame would admit to frequently becoming lost in his date's eyes. Looking around the restaurant, Kurasame noticed that many of the other patrons were looking at them too. Not that Kurasame noticed the stares that he himself was receiving, he was sure that they were all for Ace.

 

And who could blame them? Certainly not Kurasame. The other boy was dressed in a crimson shirt that set his pale skin off beautifully. He had on the tightest black pants that Kurasame had ever seen, and it was topped of with a black belt with a golden buckle. Shiny black boots, with the cutest little heel rounded out the ensemble, and nearly gave Kurasame a heart attack when he noticed them.

 

The walk in the park had been nice, and even though Kurasame couldn't keep on his feet while skating and Ace spent most of the time bent double in laughter, it was a definite success. As he drove Ace back to his apartment, Kurasame couldn't help but feel nervous. What if Ace was not ready to take things further?

 

He knew that he was a bit of a nobody really, only the so named 'fruitcake' and 'harlot' of the school were his friends. Ace was everything that he was not and it was a miracle that he had agreed to even be in the same room with him let alone date him.

 

Walking hand in hand to his door, the boys shared smiles as Kurasame unlocked the door and led Ace inside. With a knowing look towards Kurasame, Ace pulled the other towards the couch and pushed him to sit before straddling him. From that position Ace leaned in to kiss Kurasame teasingly, drawing away each time the other tried to deepen it.

 

Kurasame watched as Ace licked his lips temptingly and his control snapped. Lunging forwards, Kurasame caught the back of Ace's head in his hands and drew him down for a deep passionate kiss. Lips sliding against each other while their tongues touched and stroked the other, hands starting to wander. It was when Kurasame's hands started to lift Ace's shirt that Ace suddenly cried out.

 

“No, stop!”

 

Kurasame stilled immediately, removing his hands from the other boy and trying to pull himself as far from him as possible.

 

“I...I'm sorry. I thought that....Er umm, did you not want this?” _Want me,_ was implied but not voiced.

 

“No. I mean yes. I mean, dammit!” Ace screamed in frustration as he pulled himself away from Kurasame's lap.

 

Kurasame sat quietly and watched as Ace paced in front of him, not knowing what he should do. He wanted to reach out to Ace and soothe his frustrations, but as he seemed to be the unknowing cause of them, he did not think that there was anything that he could do to help.

 

Ace stopped suddenly in front of Kurasame, a look of sorrow and determination upon his face.

 

“I'm sorry Kurasame, but I can't do this.”

 

Kurasame bowed his head lowering his eyes to to stare at his knees. Of course Ace had changed his mind. There was no way that he couldn't have realised just how out of Kurasame's league he was, and dump him.

 

“I see.” Kurasame responded woodenly. “I apologise for taking up your time. Do you need a ride home or are you ok to make it yourself?”

 

“No! Dammit Kurasame listen to me! This” here Ace flicked his hands between them. “This was all a dare, I had no intention of ever dating you!”

 

Kurasame felt the last broken pieces of his heart shatter. It was all a dare. None of this had been real, and Ace had felt nothing for him. His mind began to shut down, and all he wanted was to be alone. He rose from the couch quietly.

 

“I think it would be best if you left now Ace.”

 

Ace was taken aback at the dull, flat tone that Kurasame had used.

 

“No wait, please let me explain!”

 

“I think you have said enough, now I want you to leave.” Kurasame walked over to his door and opened it, gesturing for the other boy to exit. “Please do not contact me again.”

 

Ace walked slowly out of the door, feeling as though he had just made the biggest mistake of his life. Hesitating just past the door, Ace turned to speak again only for Kurasame to beat him to it.

 

“I would have given you everything, if only you had given me the chance.” He said sadly. His voice quavered slightly, but his eyes remained dry.

 

With those parting words, the door closed gently in Ace's face, leaving him alone in the dark.

 


	5. Poisoned

 

It was an exhausted group of cadets that were making their slow way back towards the Northern Corridor and hopefully a safe enough place to rest for a while. Their mission had been a success, though the fight had been hard, and the extreme heat of the Jubanla Region was draining the last of their energy. It was taking all of their energy just to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving, so an ambush by the local monsters was not welcome.

 

Trailing behind the others, Ace was hit in the back by a toxic glob of spit. Crying out in shock as he stumbled alerted the others to the attack, and they readied themselves for the fight as best they could in their current states.

 

The older cadets stood on the front line, able to withstand more of the punishment as the younger set themselves up to cover them. Deuce ran over to Ace to help him to his feet and to fuss over the acid burning through his mantle. Finally they decided to just remove the crimson cape altogether to avoid any toxins spreading to his skin.

 

The fight was not long nor hard, the large group working together quickly to eliminate the foes. Nine was blown back at one point as a fire bomb exploded near him, though thankfully he had cast protect on himself before the impact. Still he was worse for wear at the end of the battle, and the group's healers flocked to him to try to cure him as they made their slow and careful way to the relative safety of the Corridor.

 

Ace was once again lagging behind, head spinning dizzily and mouth as dry as the surrounding area. Cater cast worried looks towards him, asking him quietly if he was ok. Ace tried smiling reassuringly at her, but by the look on her face he could tell that he had failed.

 

“Don't worry about me Cater. Nine is the injured one now, I'm just a bit dizzy from the heat and I'd kill for a bottle of cold water right now.”

 

Cater looked at him sceptically, but did not push the issue. Instead, she walked beside Ace and helped to keep him upright as he listed to the side more and more. By the time they made it to the Northern Corridor, the others had found a safe offshoot cavern to rest in for the night. Not saying anything to anyone, Ace found a clear spot to collapse on and fell into a fitful slumber.

 

Watching over him carefully throughout the night, Cater was alarmed when he started thrashing and sweating. Yelling out in alarm, Cater brought the others running over to see what was wrong. Upon seeing Ace as he was, King and a newly healed Nine held him down as Seven felt his forehead.

 

“Gods, he's burning up! Does anyone have any water?” Seven frowned, noticing that Ace's mantle was missing. “And where is his mantle?”

 

“We.....we took it off,” Deuce stammered. “It was covered in toxins from the first attack and we didn't want it seeping into his skin.”

 

Everyone was taken aback as Seven swore loudly.

 

“King, Nine, I need you to turn him onto his stomach please. Careful to keep his face clear though.”

 

The boys followed Seven's instructions, Cater gently turning Ace's head to the side, folding her jacket and laying his head upon it. Once Ace was turned over, his thrashing quietened somewhat. Casting a grim look towards the others, Seven reached out and gently lifted the back of Ace's jacket and shirt.

 

Quiet gasps filled the air as everyone saw the thick green veins of poison spider-webbing all over Ace's normally pale skin.

 

“Shit, he's been poisoned. And of course the idiot didn't say anything either.” Seven swore again. “Who's got a remedy?”

 

Seven looked up at the terrified and anguished faces of the others, hand held out for the vial that would clear the poison.

 

“We don't have any, we couldn't afford to buy potions and remedies at the last town!” Wailed Cinque.

 

A heavy feeling fell upon the cadets. They didn't have long until Ace would succumb to the poison, but they were still days away from Akademeia. Without another word, King gently lifted Ace into his arms and directed the others to prepare to leave. With a sense of urgency, the others rushed to don their shoes and jackets, drawing weapons to prepare for any fighting that might occur.

 

“Cater, when we get out of the Corridor, I want you to try to contact the Commander and try to get him to send air transport as quickly as possible. Until then we will collect the chocobos we left penned in the forest and head as fast as we can home.”

 

Cater nodded in understanding.

 

Once the group was ready, King motioned that they should get going, following at a safe distance as he was currently unable to reach his weapons. The journey was thankfully easier than expected, the monsters not having had enough time to re-spawn in numbers yet, so they made it to the other side in record time.

 

Cater made contact with their commander, who promised that the air ship would meet them as soon as possible. Nine handed Ace up to the newly mounted King, and he cradled him close on his lap to hold him securely as he sent his chocobo into the fastest sprint that he could.

 

Just over an hour later, the cadets could hear the familiar whirling sounds of the air ship hovering and moved to find an empty space so that it could land. They tumbled into the ship, exhausted but finally able to let down their guard as the medics took Ace from them and laid him upon a nearby bench.

 

“Cadet, status report.” The eldest medic snapped out.

 

“Ten hours ago our group was ambushed by monsters in the Jubanla Region. Cadet Ace was hit with the toxic spit from an Ankheg and the poison has entered his blood stream. We have no remedies and as such we made haste to return him to Akademeia for medical attention.” Seven replied crisply.

 

The medics turned Ace over and examined his back before pouring a remedy over it. The others watched silently as the sickly green veining faded back into clear pale skin. To make sure that the poison was completely purged from the cadet's system, another of the medics slowly encouraged the still unconscious Ace to swallow another remedy and a potion. The trip back to Akademeia was a lot less fraught with danger, and the rest of the cadets felt themselves pulled into sleep's embrace as the stress of the day fled.

 

 

 

Upon waking, Ace was confused. Weren't they camping in the Northern Corridor? Why was he in a bed in.....the medical ward? A soft snore from beside him, alerted Ace to the fact that he was not alone. Turning his head carefully, Ace saw Cater sitting in the chair next to his bed, fast asleep. As though sensing that she was being watched, Cater's eyes started to flutter open.

 

The squeal that she let out upon seeing that Ace was awake was enough to deafen the poor boy. A sudden look of grumpiness crossed Cater's face next, and she gently started hitting Ace's leg.

 

“Don't you ever do that to us again you absolute butt muncher!” Ace snorted out a giggle at the insult, but Cater wasn't finished.

 

“Three days! You've been out of it for three days! And that's after almost dying on us. If you had died I would have killed you!”

 

Ace could see the tears filling Cater's eyes so he opened his arms to offer her a hug. Cater fell into his arms holding Ace tightly, all the while muttering threats into his shoulder.

 

“Yeah, I get it. I promise not to be such an idiot next time ok?” Ace offered up his most sincere smile.

 

Cater looked back at him unimpressed. “You'd better not.”

 

The room was suddenly filled with the rest of his classmates, Cater's screaming having alerted them to Ace's awakening. As they all held him and berated him for his stupidity, Ace decided to never do that again. If only to avoid the 50 lectures he was currently receiving. A sudden commotion at the door alerted him to another's presence.

 

The commander stood in the doorway looking down at Ace, before asking the others if he could have a moment alone.

 

_'Oh boy, here comes the biggest lecture of all.'_ Ace thought.

 


	6. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continues on from 'No, stop!'

 

Ace watched as once again Kurasame walked past where he was waiting without acknowledging him. He didn't blame the other boy for wanting nothing to do with him, but he had to admit that it did still hurt a little.

 

It had been a week now since the fallout of their aborted date, and Kurasame had not spoken to Ace since. No matter how hard Ace tried to explain to the other boy, Kurasame was not interested in what he had to say. It was a stark contrast to the times where he had seemingly hung off every word that Ace had uttered, and although it had been a little strange at times, it had also felt nice to know that someone had cared enough about what he was saying to listen so closely.

 

Now every time that he would get close, Kurasame would turn away and leave. There were no more lingering looks, and although he was one of the most popular boys in school, he he had never noticed just how alone he actually was while being surrounded by so-called 'friends'.

 

Ace cursed himself for ever taking that dare from Jack. He had noticed the other boy before, of course he had, because as unpopular as he might be he was still extremely good looking. He had wanted to talk to Kurasame, but the social pressure that he had felt had stopped him from ever doing so.

 

He now regretted paying any attention to stupid things like social standing and what everyone else thought, because those few months that he had been dating Kurasame had shown him that his genuineness was worth so much more than the pretenders that surrounded him for his status. Kurasame had liked Ace for himself, and nothing more, and in return Ace had begun to develop feelings for the other boy.

 

Now however after the betrayal of his trust, Kurasame would never again feel the same way about Ace. Ace hoped that in time, Kurasame might find it in his heart to forgive him, and maybe they could give being together another go, but with the way things were playing out currently he didn't hold out much hope.

 

 

 

Kurasame was breaking inside. His heartache was raw and bleeding, and everyday Ace waited for him, trying to speak to him. Gods did he hate turning away from the other boy, but if he stopped to listen then he might just forgive Ace and dammit he had more self respect than to be with someone who had only dated him on the whims of a dare.

 

On top of that a new transfer student had for some reason started to take an interest in him. The new boy kept seeking him out, whether to be partners in class or just to talk when they were on breaks. He would offer to walk him home, or go out for a meal or even just to the park.

 

Kurasame was wary of his intentions though. He knew that by now word of what had happened between himself and Ace would have spread throughout the school, and he was wondering if this new boy was just trying to take advantage of him too. There was no way that this boy's interest was real, and even if it was Kurasame was much too shattered to even consider anything.

 

 

 

Ace watched as the new student did all of the things that he wanted to do. He walked Kurasame to classes and partnered up with him, he ate lunch with him and walked him home. He didn't care when others told him to leave the loner alone and come join in the popular groups, he merely scoffed and told them to sod off.

 

He watched as Kurasame resisted all the other boy's advances, and how the boy did not give up but tried again and again each day. He spent months watching the other boy finally start to crack the walls that Kurasame had put up around himself to keep others out, and how that special smile that had once been directed at Ace was now directed at someone else.

 

Ace saw how by the time that the school year ended, how the transfer student and Kurasame now held hands when walking down the halls, how the other would give Kurasame a gentle kiss on the lips as he dropped him off at classes that they didn't share, and how he would feed little bites of food he brought with him to Kurasame.

 

It was only after the two boys had gotten together that Kurasame no longer bothered avoiding Ace. It was as though Ace now no longer even registered in his mind, and so he no longer put the effort into keeping away from him.

 

Ace decided to take advantage of this and tried approaching Kurasame one day. Tension ran through Ace's veins as Kurasame stood before him with a look of cold indifference as Ace explained to him that although Jack had dared him to date Kurasame, Ace had genuinely started to come to like the other boy.

 

Shrugging negligently, Kurasame replied that it was all in the past now and that he had moved on. A large hand wrapped around Kurasame's shoulders just then, and a brilliant smile spread over his face as he turned towards the boy holding him. Kissing his boyfriend in greeting, Kurasame turned away from Ace throwing a casual wave behind him in dismissal.

 

Ace stood and watched as the two boys walked away from him, left heartbroken and alone with his regrets.

 


	7. Kidnapped

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not angsty like it should probably be, but I don't care.

 

Waking up handcuffed to a stranger, although bad, could be a lot worse Ace supposed. At least the stranger was handsome. He wracked his brains trying to work out just how he managed to get himself into this situation.

 

Oh yeah that's right, he had seen the handsome stranger getting beaten up and dragged by some scary looking thugs and for some gods forsaken reason had tried to intervene. Instead of helping the situation, all it had ended up in was Ace getting himself knocked out and kidnapped along with the other.

 

Speaking of which, Ace wondered if he was conscious yet. Twisting as far as he could while back tied back to back, Ace caught another glimpse of indigo hair and pale skin.

 

“Hey, hey stranger!” Ace called quietly trying to shake their joined arms. “Are you awake?”

 

A heavy, unhappy groan answered Ace, before finally the other man mumbled out a proper response.

 

“Yeah......yeah I'm awake now. Sort of wish I wasn't though.”

 

Ace could hear the pain that laced his voice, and remembering the beating that he had been taking, he winced in sympathy.

 

“Hrmm....where are we?” The man questioned wearily.

 

“I was kind of hoping that you might know.” Ace responded wryly. “I was a little knocked out for most of the trip here.”

 

“Sorry kid, don't know how you got caught up in this mess, but I'm pretty sure that it's my fault somehow.”

 

“Hey man don't worry.” Ace tried to smile at the man over his shoulder. “I could have ignored what was going on, or better yet called the cops, but I'm the idiot that tried to step in and stop them on my own.”

 

“Thanks for trying anyway kid. By the way, name's Kurasame. Pleasure to meet you.”

 

Ace giggled at the situation.

 

“Pleasure to meet you too Kurasame. My name is Ace. Now how about we do something about trying to get out of this cuffs?”

 

“Ha, sure Ace. If you reach into my back right pocket, I should have a set of keys in there.”

 

Ace gave a disbelieving huff.

 

“Why the ever loving hell would you have they keys to the cuffs that are currently trapping you?”

 

“Well they are mine so....” Kurasame trailed off when Ace gave a little shriek of “WHAT?”

 

“Calm down. I'm an undercover cop, but my cover got blown and well....here we are.”

 

The new information helped to calm Ace somewhat and he used his left hand to try to locate Kurasame's pocket. After a minute where Ace definitely did not get distracted by how nice and firm Kurasame's butt felt, he finally managed to work his hand into the pocket and withdraw the keys. Carefully manoeuvring the keys into the lock, Ace breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard a click and the cuff around Kurasame's left wrist fell open.

 

Taking the keys in his newly freed hand, Kurasame quickly opened the cuff on Ace's wrist as well. Unfortunately the cuffs on their other wrists did not open with their key, and Kurasame frowned as he surmised that they would need to work together to escape and then find a good and discrete locksmith to break them out.

 

When Ace asked Kurasame why the locksmith would need to be discrete, Kurasame dead-panned that there were more reasons than arresting someone or kidnapping them to use handcuffs. It took Ace a minute to work out what the other man meant, but when he did he turned the most fetching shade of pink and Kurasame couldn't help but laugh.

 

Ace brought his left wrist towards his right, and rubbed gently at the red lines that adorned his wrist like an angry red bracelet. This drew Kurasame's attention once again to Ace and he apologised again for getting him into this mess.

 

The door was stupidly unlocked, and they crept out silently. Kurasame kept Ace behind him at all times, making sure to check around corners and doorways before hurrying towards where they hoped the exit was.

 

As they ran, the silence of the building was broken by the sound of sirens and screeching tires. Doors flew off their hinges as the enemy poured out of their rooms catching sight of their hostages on the loose. Swearing loudly and creatively, Kurasame grabbed the hand that was joined to his own and practically dragged Ace along as they fled.

 

Making it to the front of the building, Kurasame and Ace found themselves surrounded by police and special forces units all focused on taking down the group within the building. Recognition flashed across the faces of many of the officers as they saw the two run out, and they yelled frantically to the others not to shoot.

 

Finally, they were surrounded by friendly faces and were ushered towards a waiting ambulance to be treated. Luckily most of the damage was superficial, though they did receive some mild teasing for being cuffed together.

 

The raid was finally over and the culprits were being put into the back of the police vans and being taken away. Kurasame and Ace were sat in the back of the ambulance sharing a blanket for warmth when the older man spoke up.

 

“I know this is probably a really weird thing to ask, especially right now, but when all this blows over would you like to go on a date with me?”

 

Ace just laughed, jiggling their joined arms.

 

“Sure Kurasame, I would love to go on a date with you. Let's make sure we can get separated first though yeah?”

 

“And if we get to the stage where we become intimate,” Kurasame flushed at little at the thought, “No cuffs ok?”

 

Kurasame couldn't help but laugh as he agreed.

 


	8. Fever

 

His lover had died and the world was ending.

 

Not even a week since the fall of the man that he loved and life as they knew it was falling apart. The sky was bleeding red and the seas churned, waves threatening to consume any who dared approach. The land died seemingly overnight and giant monsters intent on wiping out humanity replaced the wildlife that was once so abundant beyond their front gates.

 

Classmates, teachers and friends alike, their bodies lay ravaged and strewn across the destroyed school. It was mercy that drove them to finish those who had not been granted the comfort of death.

 

Ace watched seemingly from a great distance, both there and not at the same time. He watched as the remaining members of the school gathered trying to plan a way to survive this disaster. He saw as a lady who claimed to be a dragon offered her services to help them stop the oncoming end of the world.

 

The world flew past as he clung to the back of the dragon with his classmates, heading towards the great yet ominous tower in the distance. Time passed slowly as they fought their way to the seemingly endless maze of the tower, passing test and trials along the way. They raced to the top, flames licking at their heels setting fire to their blood like a fever in their veins.

 

Upon reaching the top, they were all struck down – one by one they fell like dominoes until not one of them was left standing. They were transported by the magic of tower to fight the man who pretended to be God. The one who had brought about the ending of the world as they knew it.

 

Each fought to the best of their abilities, and yet each fell in the end. Ace found himself to be the last of his classmates still standing. Helplessness filled him, though he never gave up. They were almost there, the Judge was almost defeated. With a final cry of triumph, Ace threw an exploding card towards the Judge and watched as he fell into the blood like pool that he had spawned from.

 

Ace staggered towards his fallen comrades, and despair took him as he realised that not one had survived their ordeal. In the back of his mind, Ace knew that none of them had expected to return once their mission was complete, but the reality of the situation hit him hard.

 

Stumbling over to them, Ace felt tears fall down his cheeks each drop of moisture carving a path down his filthy face to land upon the body of yet another person. Ace saw the subtle rise and fall of the chest of one of his comrades, and hurried towards them. Even as he drew closer, Ace could see the breaths becoming further and further apart. Crashing to the ground before them, Ace gathered them close to him, trying to hold them in this world that they had saved.

 

He was not surprised when their body shuddered and the shallow breaths stopped. Lying down beside his team mates, Ace simply gave up and let the darkness overtake him.

 

 

 

A rasp of breath passed Ace's lungs as his eyes flew open, a rough cough startling the other man in the room with him. Leaping to his feet, Ace's visitor quickly grabbed a cupful of water and guided the straw between parched lips. Sucking down the water thirstily, Ace took a moment to reorientate himself.

 

White walls, white bed, and the strong stench of disinfectant. Ace was in a hospital. Leaning over him was the man that had offered him the water, and Ace took a moment to glance at him.

 

Tall, indigo hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. He was wearing scrubs and a name tag, so assumingly he was either a nurse or doctor. Squinting his eyes and trying to read the name on the tag, Ace was broken from his glaring by the sound of a quiet laugh.

 

“My name is Kurasame and I am your nurse. You were brought in by your friends five days ago with an acute fever and hallucinations. We were all quite relieved when your fever broke last night, and we have all been waiting for you to wake.”

 

Ace's mouth formed into a little 'o' of surprise as he took in this information. Five days, bloody hell. He didn't even remember feeling all that sick. Well, maybe a little, it was all a bit blurry to be honest.

 

“If there is anything you need,” Kurasame stated as he straightened out Ace's sheets, “feel free to press the call button. I'll leave you to rest for now.” With a small smile, the handsome nurse headed towards the door.

 

“Hey...” Kurasame paused before he left, turning to look at Ace once again. “Have you ever had a dream so vivid that it felt real?”

 

Kurasame seemed surprised by the question, before the left side of his mouth tilted up in a tiny, yet sad looking smile.

 

“I have.” He said quietly. “There are some that believe that those are not just dreams, but that they are memories from our past lives. If we were to know all that had happened to ourselves before, we would surely go mad, but that doesn't mean that fate or destiny wants us to make the same mistakes over and over again. They are our warnings, our inspirations. Or maybe there is something or someone that is important and you need those memories to know why they are so.”

 

“A past life huh?” Ace mused quietly to himself as Kurasame slipped silently from the room.

 

Kurasame breathed a little sigh of sadness as he closed the door. He hoped that Ace remembered him soon, he didn't know how many more lifetimes he would have to wait.

 


	9. Stranded

 

Ace was chatting happily with his siblings as they made their way back from Iscah, their infiltration mission a success. Several of their other siblings had already ridden their chocobos ahead, but the younger group had decided to take it easier so that they could talk and play while there were no pressing matters for them to attend to upon their return.

 

It was early afternoon, and the sun was high in the sky blazing hotly and making the cadets sweat. They decided that the next town they passed, that they would change into their summer uniforms. Deuce jokingly reminded Ace to remember to slather himself in sunscreen, because on the last mission he had taken in the area he had forgotten, and had ended up looking like a lobster for the next week or so afterwards.

 

The young cadets all breathed a sigh of relief as their thick winter gear was replaced by the light cotton of their summer uniforms. Remounting their chocobos, they bid the kind townspeople goodbye, and headed once again towards Akademeia. In the distance they could hear the roars of the great tauricorns, and kept a casual eye out for any in their path.

 

Although they could probably take one down if all of them were present, the fact that half of their number had gone on ahead had greatly weakened them. Especially as most of the current group were either long range fighters or healers.

 

As they made their way through the small patches of tress dotted here and there, Ace started to notice that many of the chocobos seemed to be a lot more edgy than normal for wild birds. He was about to mention this to the others as they breached the outer stand of trees, when they stumbled across a sleeping tauricorn.

 

The great beast was facing the trees, head lowered in slumber. They silently agreed to try to creep around it hoping that if they made it around even if they did accidentally wake it up, that they would have the advantage of not having to turn. It was all going according to plan as one by one they guided their terrified chocobos past.

 

It was as Cinque was making her was past that all hell broke loose. The sudden sounds of gunfire blasted through the air and shattered the quiet. The great tauricorn woke with an angered scream, Cinque right in front of the enraged beast.

 

It was too much for her poor bird, and it promptly threw Cinque off and dashed away. Rather than following the bird, the beast turned it's beady eyes towards the downed girl before it. Cinque scrambled to her feet and tried to back away back into the trees where the beast could not follow, but the tauricorn gave a mighty roar and charged.

 

Before it could reach her though, Ace let out a yell and kicked his chocobo forwards. Hand reaching out towards his terrified classmate, their hands clasped together and he all but threw her into the saddle in front of him.

 

There was no way that the two of them could head towards the others, who were watching on with fear filled eyes, so Ace turned the chocobo back towards the Meroe region and hopefully the tauricorn would lose interest in them and they could double back and meet back up with the others. Unbeknownst to Ace and Cinque though, it was from that direction that the gunshots had originated from.

 

So as they fled, more shots fired out towards both them and the beast. The shots bounced off of the tough hide of the tauricorn doing nothing more than irritating it further, but Ace leant forwards and tried to protect Cinque as we as he could.

 

Cinque felt Ace give a shudder against her huddled form, but no sound was forthcoming and he only looked as determined as before, so she dismissed her concerns. They had reached the borders of Meroe now, and still the tauricorn chased them. They must have really done something to annoy the beast as generally they would have given up the chase by now.

 

They were almost to the town, when suddenly Cinque felt Ace's grip on her fading. The arms that were holding her tightly to the chocobo started to loosen and slip, and the next thing she knew Ace had slumped over and fallen off the chocobo. The bird ran for the half open gates, and luckily the tauricorn followed them instead of the downed boy as Cinque screamed for Ace.

 

 

As he felt himself hit the ground, Ace was jolted back into painful awareness. It took him a moment to orientate himself, and to work out what had happened. In the distance he could hear the slamming of the town gates locking the beast out, and the roars of the tauricorn trapped outside.

 

The pain radiating from his left shoulder quickly brought him back to the present however, and it was then that he realised that he was out of magic. He had used the last of it to cast a haste spell to make it to Cinque in time to save her from being trampled or gored, but now he had none left with which to heal himself. Tearing a strip of cloth from the bottom of his shirt, Ace tried to wrap the wound as well as he could one handed. He didn't even want to contemplate whether or not the bullet might still be inside of him.

 

Lifting his wrist to access his COMM to request a ride home for himself and Cinque, Ace noticed that he must have shattered it in his fall. The screen was cracked and dark, and no amount of prodding or shaking would make it work. Resigned, Ace pulled a chocobo whistle out of his pocket, intent to summon another bird and make his way towards the town now that the tauricorn had angrily left the area.

 

Putting the whistle to his lips, Ace blew long and hard trying to call any chocobo that might be in the area to him. Unfortunately for him, it was not just a chocobo that heard the whistle. Another great tauricorn that had been hidden by the sharp incline upon which on old military base rested upon, heard the call and started towards him.

 

Swearing long and loud, Ace scrambled to find somewhere to hide. Unfortunately there was no place for him to go. It was then that Ace remembered that the tauricorns did not like the cold, so he made his way as quick as he could towards Cetme and it's snowy climate. Once there, he turned hoping that the tauricorn would have turned away and left since it's quarry had entered an area where it would not follow, but instead it seemed to have decided to lay down in the entrance completely blocking it off.

 

It was only now that Ace realised that he was alone with no transport, no way of contacting help, his exit was blocked and he was in enemy territory. He was also not dressed for the changed weather conditions in this area, and was quickly finding himself shivering from the bitterly cold wind blowing. Ace had to find shelter, and hopefully build a fire for warmth. He hoped that his classmates would come looking for him soon, but for now he was stranded alone across enemy lines.

 


	10. Bruises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of implied rape, attempted rape and abuse.
> 
> Read with caution if this affects you.

 

Standing naked before his mirror, Ace stared at the bruises covering his body. Hand shaped prints stained his hips, wrists and throat, and a large purpling bruise decorated his left eye. Ice had taken away the swelling, but still the discolouration remained.

 

Thanking the stars that the day was cold, Ace pulled a long sleeved top on along with jeans and a scarf to cover up as much as he could. Sighing wearily to himself, Ace made his way slowly towards the bathroom and the myriad of foundations and concealers that were strewn across the cabinet.

 

Picking up a tube of concealer, Ace squeezed out a small amount and started to spread it over the mark around his eye, wincing slightly at the pain. Carefully applying more to the exposed parts of his neck next, Ace then grabs the foundation and gently uses a sponge to cover up the last of the blemishes on his normally pale skin.

 

His eyes were slightly bloodshot, but Ace could explain that away by saying that he had allergies, the recent turn in the weather would keep people from being suspicious. Stepping back from the cabinet, Ace eyed himself critically to make sure that no evidence of his daily struggles were visible. It would not do to have people ask him where the bruises had come from after all, his partner would not be pleased if people became suspicious and Ace would likely pay for it.

 

Tugging on a pair of long fingerless gloves, Ace grabbed his bag and hurried out of their home. He's not sure just how it had happened that he and his lover now lived together, just that one day he had come over and had never really left since. At first their relationship had been perfect. As a child Ace had been neglected and used by his parents, so when this seemingly perfect man had shown and interest in him and treated Ace so kindly it was not surprising that he had quickly fallen in love.

 

It was only after they had started living together that things had taken a turn for the worst. What had once been kind concern for Ace going out after school, now turned into demands for Ace to stay. Gentle caresses and kindness was now rough hands that held him down, leaving marks of possession behind. Soft words disappeared only to become sneering insults, everything from Ace's weight to his supposed lack of intelligence.

 

And poor abused Ace, did not fight back. He didn't know how to, and he was scared that if he did, he would be left alone again. Surely this was better than the utter loneliness and despair that he had suffered before? So what if his lover's hands held him too tightly, at least someone wanted to hold him. So what if the words he would spew at him were all insults, at least he was speaking to him. And if he didn't want Ace to go anywhere or see anyone else? That just meant that he wanted to spend all of his time with Ace.

 

 

 

Unbeknownst to Ace though, there was another boy who watched him. He tried to speak to Ace, but the other boy was so conditioned by his lover that Ace would never listen when he tried to help him. This other boy watched as the normally quiet and shy Ace, retreated further from others. He might not have always come out with them, but he had come sometimes. Now however he would always have the excuse that he was expected home, and the invitations had stopped being issued.

 

His icy blue eyes saw the marks that Ace had gotten better at hiding, saw the tiredness and despair that hid within Ace's eyes. He wanted to hold the other boy, tell him that he would take him away and make everything better, but Ace was so stuck in his own head that he couldn't even conceive of the fact that his situation was not normal.

 

Today Kurasame watched Ace limp through the school gates, covered from neck to toe in long clothes. The slight discolouration over his eye and neck caught Kurasame's attention, and he gritted his teeth in anger. Why could he not help Ace? They had been fairly good friends, well as good friends as you could be with a person as shy as Ace. But since he had met his lover, Ace never had time to spend with him anymore and it hurt.

 

Kurasame wasn't sure when it was that he had fallen in love with the other boy, all that he knew was that he would give anything to be able to love and protect him. He wanted to hold Ace close, whisper his love into his delicate ears, and give him anything he wanted. But Kurasame knew that Ace could never feel the same for him.

 

He watched from afar as Ace dazedly made his way through school that day, never noticing that he was drawing attention from many of his classmates for his out of character behaviour. The students all speculated what was wrong with the solitary boy, and gossip was rife. It was unfortunate for Ace that today just happened to be a day that his lover had finish work early and decided to come and collect Ace from school, as he overheard all of the gossip as he waited.

 

Every word he heard made him angrier and angrier, until he was practically vibrating in rage. How dare that stupid slut not cover up his marks? How could he let suspicion fall on their relationship like this? Did he not know what could happen if word got out? He could lose his job for god's sake! When he got his hands on that little bitch, he was going to make him regret not doing a better job of hiding. Tonight he would teach Ace a lesson that he would not soon forget.

 

The soft scuffing of footsteps drew his attention. Whatever his expression might have been, it was enough to make Ace pause. A low threatening growl soon had him hurrying over though, a tight hand wrapped around his arm as he was forcibly thrown into the passenger seat of the car. As they sped off out of the car park, Kurasame watched with a feeling of dread and decided to follow them.

 

It took Kurasame longer than he was hoping to make it to Ace's home, the traffic in the car park terrible as all the students tried to leave at once. It put Kurasame at least fifteen minutes behind the pair, and if Kurasame pushed the speed limits to try to make up time, well no one was there to tell on him.

 

A dark feeling enveloped Kurasame as he exited his car urging him to hurry. Reaching the hallway where Ace's door was located, the sound of flesh against flesh and pained yells spurred him forwards. The door to Ace's home was ajar and it went flying open as Kurasame crashed into it. The scene that met his eyes would be forever etched into his memory.

 

Ace lay upon the floor shirt torn, scarf wrapped around his throat as his hands scrambled to loosen it to draw breath. His pants had been stripped away, his lover forcefully trying to enter him as he kicked and squirmed away as best he could. The man's other hand was punching or slapping any skin that he could reach, and new marks were blooming across Ace's body everywhere. Ace's eyes lifted briefly to see Kurasame framed in the doorway, shame filling his eyes as his friend saw him like this, before they rolled back and he knew no more.

 

With a primal yell of rage, Kurasame launched himself at the other man. Although younger, Kurasame was both taller and more muscled and had no trouble knocking the other off of Ace's prone body. Startled, the older man was slow to react, and Kurasame made him pay for his inattention. A hard punch landed straight on his nose, the sound of cracking bone filling the air, before another fist shot out knocking him into the wall and out cold.

 

As soon as Kurasame was sure that the other man was knocked out, he raced towards Ace tugging at the scarf and allowing him to take in precious gulps of air. Covering the boy with his jacket, Kurasame pulled his phone out of his pocket dialling the emergency services and requesting both the police and an ambulance. It did not take long before both arrived, they loaded Ace onto a stretcher Kurasame was dismayed to find that he would need to remain to speak to the officers to inform them of what had happened.

 

The last thing that he saw as they wheeled Ace away, was his pale, bruised body shivering as though he would never be warm again.

 

 

Ace truly did not believe that he would ever wake again, so to do so was surprising to him. The beeps of monitors and alarms, the sounds of people walking and talking in the halls, and the smell of antiseptic let him know that he was in the hospital. How he had gotten there was a mystery, though that was soon solved as he noticed that someone was holding onto his hand tightly.

 

Freezing in panic, Ace slowly turned his head to see who was in the room with him. As soon as Ace saw those familiar blue locks of hair resting upon his bed, he relaxed. He was glad that it was Kurasame and not his lover, and something in Ace broke open as he realised that.

 

In all the years of abuse and neglect, Kurasame had always been a safe have for him. There had never been a time when he had been afraid of the other boy, or where he had felt that he hadn't mattered. Kurasame had always listened to what he said, no matter how stupid it had been and he had always made time for Ace.

 

Gods Ace had been so stupid. All those years he had wanted love, looking for it in all the wrong places, when it had been right in front of him the entire time. Kurasame began to stir as Ace was having his revelation, so it was a surprise for Ace when Kurasame's hand tightened further around his.

 

Glancing down, Ace was met with teary blue eyes filled with so much concern that he had to turn away. He was shocked as the other boy leant forward and gently engulfed him in an embrace.

 

“Don't ever do that to me again you hear?” Kurasame whispered brokenly to Ace.

  
“I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you.” Speechless, Ace stared back into Kurasame's eyes, nodding wordlessly.

 

“Please, I know it's too soon, but I have to tell you that I love you Ace.”

 

Ace gasped. No one loved him! There was no way that Kurasame could feel this way about him.

 

“I know that you can't believe me right now, and that's ok. I just wanted to tell you. I don't want anything but to be by your side. I promise that I will never take more than what you are willing to give.”

 

Kurasame lifted his hands indicating for Ace to grab them, waiting patiently until Ace held them securely.

 

“I promise you this Ace, I promise that these hands will never leave bruises or marks on you. That they will only ever treat you kindly and gently as you deserve. I promise that I will give you whatever I can to ensure your happiness.”

 

“B-but why?” Ace croaked out, voice still raw from being strangled.

 

“Because I love you” Was Kurasame's simple reply.

 

Ace fell into his arms sobbing and Kurasame held him gently, stoking his back.

 

Ace wasn't ready for another relationship now, but that didn't matter, Kurasame would wait for as long as it took. Simply because he loved him. And that was all Ace needed to know.

 


	11. Hypothermia

 

Ace stood shivering as the cold wind blew. His summer uniform offered no protection against the elements and he could feel his body temperature rapidly beginning to drop. Knowing that it wouldn't really help, Ace unclasped his mantle and wrapped the thin fabric around him.

 

Looking around to try to find some shelter, Ace swore as snow started falling, getting carried along by the wind and blinding him. The snow clung to his eyelashes and made it difficult for Ace to see, so Ace decided that he would head towards the mountain and follow along the edge until he hopefully could find a cave.

 

For the first time this day, luck was on Ace's side and he quickly found a small cave that he could crawl into. It was far from warm, even with a fire materia glowing brightly and trying to warm the air, but it at least kept out the wind and most of the snow.

 

Ace found that it did not take as long as he was hoping before the bone deep shivers set in. What had started as slight shakes, had now turned into full body shudders as his body tried to warm itself. He tried to wrap himself tighter within his mantle, but for some reason he seemed to be unable to grasp the edges of the fabric. Each time he tried, the material seemed to slip lower and lower off of his shoulders, until it ended up pooled at his elbows.

 

Ace stared down at the fabric numbly, not quite understanding why it was not covering him any longer. Trying to think was getting harder and harder though, and Ace could feel his eyes starting to droop before he jerked himself back to awareness. At some point, Ace had released the spell keeping the fire materia lit, and the tiny amount of warmth in the cave rapidly dissipated.

 

Realising that the materia was no longer working, Ace tried to recast his spell but found that he lacked the energy and MP to cast. Somewhere in the back of Ace's mind realised that he was no longer feeling so cold anymore, so trying to cast again would just be a waste of effort. He didn't realise that his sudden lack of shivering meant that he was heading towards a more severe case of hypothermia.

 

No longer having the energy to remain sitting, Ace laid himself down upon the floor and curled up in the foetal position. The cold ground felt good against his suddenly warm skin, and Ace sank gratefully into a peaceful sleep.

 

As Ace slept peacefully, death stole quietly into the cave and watched over him. It watched as saw as the last few shivers stopped, the delicate looking boy now lying almost motionless upon the floor. If it were not for the short, shallow breaths breaking the silence, it would not be beyond the realm of possibility to think that the boy in the cave had left the mortal realm.

 

Death watched over the lonely cadet as his skin and lips turned blue, and mumbled words tumbled restlessly from frozen lips. Turning towards the entrance and looking at the sky, Death smiled. Dawn would be breaking soon, and without interference, Ace would walk with away from here with him by his side.

 

A weak glimmer of light drew Death's attention, and when he turned Ace's spirit stood looking down upon his body. At the movement he turned and startled at the figure who stood before him, after all it was impossible to mistake Death for any other.

 

“So that's it then? Am I dead?” Ace asked sadly.

 

“Hmm....not quite yet, you have until the sun rises. If help does not arrive for you by then...” Death trailed off with a negligent shrug.

 

“I'm don't want to die though! I'm not ready yet.” Ace argued. Death was amused by this boy who would try to argue against his fate.

 

“Few are unfortunately. But we are not the masters of our own fate, and as such we must bow down to her whims. Even I cannot interfere with the cycle of life and death.”

 

Ace looked stricken. There was so much he still wanted to do, was his time already up? He hadn't even gotten to tell the person he loved how he felt yet. Ace wanted to cry, to rage and scream. He wanted to wish that this had never happened to him, but he knew that if he hadn't done what he had, then his classmate would have died. And that was something that Ace could not tolerate. In the end, he had ended up trading her life for his own, and he knew that there was nothing he would do differently if given the chance.

 

“I...I understand.” Ace replied tremulously “I don't think I'll ever be ready, but I accept that if it had not been me, that it would have been another. Thank you for being here to help me understand and guide me.”

 

Death watched quietly in amazement as the young child before him, bowed in thanks for being the one to steal his life away.

 

It had been many years since Death had last reaped such a pure soul, and he was looking forward to being able to speak more with the young boy once he had passed over. As the first rays of light lit the front of the cave, Death summoned his scythe to his hand. Hand and weapon rose above his head, ready to drop upon the boy before him.

 

Ace closed his eyes, he didn't want to see the moment that his life ended. Didn't want to see that beautiful but deadly scythe fall upon him. Standing with his eyes closed, Ace felt the tiny bits of warmth that the weak sun was trying to produce and he smiled. The sound of air parting as the scythe came falling down was drowned out by the sounds of someone calling out his name frantically.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've left the ending up to interpretation.
> 
> You can decide whether you think Death was able to stop his swing and they managed to save Ace, or if he died there and they only found his body.


	12. Electrocution

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of mental abuse and Suicide.
> 
> Please read with caution if this affects you.

 

Kurasame stared down at his reflection in the metal of the kitchen sink before him, his image distorted and broken by the flaws in the metal. All he could see was a broken man.

 

Dumped by his girlfriend of two years for being 'a cold heartless man, boring as watching paint dry, and horribly scarred too', stuck in a dead end job that had promised so much when he signed on, but had never delivered on it's promises. The scared skin that marred the lower half of his face was just another thing about himself that he hated.

 

All of his life he had been told that he wasn't good enough in some way, according to some person. As a child he was too loud, so he learned to become quiet and not voice his opinions. As a teen he was too fat and not muscular enough, so he stopped eating and started working out at the gym as often as he could. And as an adult he was not sparkling enough to be promoted, didn't have the vivacity and image they were looking for in a top ranked employee.

 

So Kurasame gave up.

 

Everything that he did, and everything that he was was wrong. He didn't understand why such an abomination such as himself had been born into this world, much less why he'd been allowed to live and breathe and taint it with his failures. So he decided that he would end it all. End the suffering that others endured having to be around him. End the countless days of ridicule and hate that always seemed to follow him.

 

He would end the endless days of loneliness that plagued him, all the while wishing that someone could hear his silent screams for someone to just love him as he was.

 

Dashing away the tears that at some point started to fall, Kurasame filled the sink with water. When it was full he dropped in a toaster, still plugged into the wall, and watched as it started sparking dangerously. Laughing mirthlessly to himself, Kurasame mused on how cliché this was. He would have tried it in a bath tub just to finish off the overused trope if only he had enough money to afford a place with a bath.

 

Kurasame looked around his sparse flat one last time, checking to see if the letters that he had written were still on the side table beside the door. Not that he expected anyone to actually care that he was dead, but he didn't want to leave his landlord without the rent that would be due for the rest of the month. Not to mention that the vultures he knew would want anything of value that he possessed.

 

Realising now that he was just delaying the inevitable, Kurasame stepped forwards and plunged both of his hands and face into the electrified water. Electricity surged through his body, causing him to arch backwards and rip his face free of the water with a scream. His hand clutched uselessly at the toaster, muscles spasming uncontrollably, yet still remaining in the water.

 

His heart started to race, and his throat felt raw. Kurasame didn't realise that he was still screaming, that there was somebody pounding on his door. The white noise that filled his head as blessed unconsciousness welcomed him with open arms drowned out the sound of his front door splintering open.

 

Kurasame didn't hear the person in is apartment swear, didn't hear them race to find a broom or something to push him away from the sink safely. Wasn't aware of anything anymore as his heart gave a slow final pump before everything stopped, and he sank almost gracefully to the floor. The most heartbreaking thing of all, was the smile that adorned his face, the sense of peace and belonging.

 


	13. "Stay"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains smut, so skip this if that makes you uncomfortable.

 

They met one night on a dark street corner, both looking for different things. Kurasame was driving past looking for the address of his slightly kooky friend Kazuza, and Ace was looking for his next meal.

 

As he pulled up to the curb to ask for directions, Kurasame saw a boy who could be no older than eighteen confidently striding towards his passenger side window. The boy was blonde haired, blue eyed and had the face of a fallen angel. His clothes however screamed that he knew just how to show you a good time though. Tight black leather pants hugged his legs and sat low enough on his hips to show off his v line, his top was blood red mesh that left little to the imagination.

 

Winding down his window would be a bad move Kurasame knew, but he could not stop himself from doing so anyway. Leaning down and resting his forearms along the edge of the window, Ace gave the sexiest look that he could before speaking.

 

“What can I do you for Sugar?” His voice was young, but it slid like smoke down Kurasame's lungs and filled him with want.

 

“Just...just after some directions. Sorry.” Kurasame's grip on the steering wheel tightened. He wasn't sure if he would be able to resist this temptation for long, and hoped to get out as quickly as possible.

 

“That so?” Ace hummed mournfully. “Well I'm new to town so I won't be any help to you. Good luck!” Ace waved lazily as he turned around and walked off, swaying his hips tauntingly.

 

Kurasame found himself staring. Gods that arse was perfect, encased in that leather – he could practically feel the saliva pooling in his mouth.

 

“Wait!” Kurasame wasn't even sure when his brain and mouth had started working independently from each other. Ace turned back towards the car with a look of enquiry.

 

“I...how much for one night?” Kazuza could wait. He could call him and tell him something had come up and that he would meet him tomorrow.

 

“Depends Hon on what you are looking for.” Ace had returned to leaning against the window now, and Kurasame caught the faintest hint of jasmine and honey coming from him.

 

“I want to have sex with you tonight.” Kurasame stated bluntly, only to watch in amazement as the boy's face seemed to go bright red with what seemed to be embarrassment.

 

“Er, I yeah of course.” Ace stammered out.

 

Gods did the man have to be so blunt? For the millionth time that week, Ace cursed the bad luck that had forced him into this situation. Luckily for him, the other nights he had had to come out, the customers had only wanted him to use his hands or his mouth. One strange customer had even asked him to dress up as a maid and serve him as he pleasured himself.

 

“So, how much?” Kurasame asked again, starting to feel a tiny bit amused. This boy did not seem like he was a pro. In fact he was almost positive that he was a virgin.

 

“$200, more for multiple times or anything else. No kissing on the mouth, and always use a rubber.”

 

Kurasame nodded along willingly. “I accept your terms. Hop in.”

 

With a sense of nervousness, Ace threw a quick look back towards the others standing at the corner, and pulled open the passenger side door. He buckled himself in securely after the man beside him gestured that he wouldn't leave until he had done so. As the car smoothly pulled away from the kerb, Ace decided that he would try to break the awkward silence that had fallen.

 

“So Sweet Thing, where were you hoping to go before?” Ace looked coyly up from beneath his lashes.

 

“I was on my way to visit my friend Kazuza, he has a lab around here somewhere. And my name is Kurasame, not Sweet Thing or Sugar or any other variation that you can think up. Which reminds me, I should call to let him know I'm not coming.”

 

Kurasame tapped on his phone before issuing the order for it to dial his friend. As it dialled, Ace's eyes lit up in recognition.

 

“Oh Crazy Kazuza! I know him, I've been warned to not go anywhere with him as he is likely to try experimenting on us. Oh and er my name is Ace.”

 

Kurasame looked over in surprise. That hadn't sounded like a fake name, and he hadn't thought that the other would offer it up so easily. Just then the called connected.

 

“Kura-Bear! Where are you? How can I start the fun without you here?”

 

“Kazuza” Kurasame replied drily. “I have been unexpectedly detained and won't be able to make it tonight. I'll call to reschedule when I can.”

 

“But Kurasame! What could possibly be more important than spending time with me! Your bestest bestiest bud?”

 

About to deflect the question once again, Kurasame was interrupted by Ace letting out a tiny sneeze. Unfortunately for him, Kazaua also heard the noise and jumped to the logical conclusion.

 

“You old dog you! Going on a date! I shall pray for the success of you getting laid!”

 

Kurasame did not feel that this warranted a response, and hung up on the still chattering Kazuza.

 

By this time the car had pulled up in front of a nice looking house just outside of the city. Ace stared out at the front as though it was a castle, causing Kurasame to laugh quietly.

 

“Come on in, and we'll get started.”

 

Ace nervously followed Kurasame into the house, before he was slammed up against the closed door feverish lips upon the skin of his neck. Startled, it took Ace a few seconds compute what was happening. After that though, his hands flew into the indigo locks of hair before him and his mouth fell open to pant and moan. This man certainly knew what to do with his mouth.

 

Open mouthed kisses interspersed with nips and licks were laid up and down his neck, as one hand held his head in place and the other moved to slide up under the mesh top he wore. Feeling as though he was not pulling his weight, Ace removed his hands from that surprisingly soft hair and started to tug Kurasame's shirt from his pants.

 

Ace had just managed to tuck the shirt and undo a few of the lower buttons, before Kurasame drew back. Confused Ace looked towards the other man and nearly melted on the spot at the open desire he was showing on his face. A tug on his hand urged Ace away from the door and towards what he assumed was a bedroom.

 

His theory was proven correct as he managed to see the massive bed in the middle of the room before he was all but thrown onto it. Ace landed on his back and managed to bounce a few times before a shirtless Kurasame descended upon him. Ace saw that the other's lips were heading for his own and turned his head at the last minute. How he wished that he could taste those lips just once, but he had been warned by the others that that was a big no go in this business.

 

Chagrined for forgetting, Kurasame grunted a quick apology as he instead moved to kiss at Ace's chest as he drew his top over his head only to throw it to the ground joining his shirt. Their pants were quick to follow, and their moans filled the air as their naked bodies moved against each other.

 

Oil was quickly grabbed and used to help prepare Ace. Kurasame took extra time to prepare the boy, he didn't want his potential first time to hurt more than it had too. Ace lay panting and moaning at the feel of one then two fingers moving within him. It hurt when the third finger was added, but a quick swipe across his prostate obliterated any pain his brain might have registered.

 

Ace was disappointed as Kurasame withdrew his fingers and tried to pull him down towards himself to enter him. Ace was confused when the other man resisted the tugging and started to withdraw. Had he changed his mind perhaps? But no, Kurasame was being responsible and was grabbing a condom from the draw.

 

Sitting up slightly, Ace sneakily grabbed the packet from Kurasame's slippery fingers. Tearing it open with slightly trembling fingers, Ace rolled it tortuously slowly down Kurasame's length. Ace kept eye contact with the man the whole time and could see how the brilliant blue of his eyes almost disappeared under dilated pupils. As soon as Ace removed his hands, he once again found himself pinned to the bed, Kurasame hovering over him.

 

However, instead of thrusting straight in like he had assumed he would, Kurasame paused to ask Ace if he was sure he wanted this.

 

“More than you can know.” Ace replied quietly. Kurasame seemed to study his face to see if he was lying, but seeing only truth he nodded.

 

With those sincerely spoken words between them, Kurasame slowly pushed forwards. Ace cried out as he was stretched wider than he ever had been before, hands gripping the covers of the bed beside him. Once the head had entered Ace, Kurasame paused letting him adjust. It was only when Ace started to rock against him that Kurasame once again pressed further in. It took almost no time after that until he was fully sheathed.

 

Ace panted below him, little moans and gasps falling from his lips as he begged for 'More! Faster! Harder!'

 

Kurasame was powerless to resist the demands of Ace, and used a hand to tilt his hips up to angle himself to hit his prostate with accuracy. The feeling of bliss was so great that it did not take either man long to reach their climax. Ace came with a shout as Kurasame wrapped a hand around his weeping length and following soon after as Ace's muscles milked his climax from him.

 

They lay panting together in the aftermath, Kurasame gently pulling out and disposing of the condom and grabbing a cloth to clean both of them up. By the time he got back to his room, Ace was already up and looked ready to leave. Kurasame felt disappointed. He had hoped that the other would stay for the night at least, though he knew what the other did for a living. With a heavy heart, Kurasame turned to the other.

 

“I'll go grab your payment then.”

 

Ace nodded quietly, not really sure what to do now that their business was nearly finished. He hadn't realised that sleeping with someone would feel so good, that the first person he would be with would treat him so well. He hadn't realised that he would start to fall a little in love with this passionate man. But there was nothing that he could do about it, and it's not like a man like that would be interested in a prostitute like him anyway, not for anything more than a good fuck anyway.

 

Months went on like this, Kurasame coming to visit Kazuza and then swinging past to pick up Ace for another passionate night together. Slowly they learned each other, conversations happening on the drive over where they discovered common likes and interests or over the meal that Kurasame would insist on providing Ace before he would leave.

 

For Ace it was almost easy to fall in love with the other man. There was no other that held him so gently, treated him like a person to be cherished and loved and not just an object. Slowly over the months, instead of leaving straight away as he had that first night, Ace stayed longer and longer. Time was spent learning about this man who had entered his life by accident, and the more he discovered the more he wanted Kurasame in his life as more than just a customer.

 

 

For Kurasame, Ace brought life and passion back into his life. He had been stagnating before, his world was monochrome, the sun seeming to have disappeared from his sights. But once meeting this boy, light and colour once again filling his world. There was no way that he could bear to lose Ace, but he knew that asking Ace to give up his job would not be welcomed and so he bore with the pain of knowing that nightly Ace gave himself to others as he gave himself to Kurasame.

 

They had been in this arrangement for nearly a year when it finally came to a head. Ace stood quietly in the hall waiting for Kurasame to return and accepting the money that he handed him, Ace turned towards the door intending to make his way back to his friends and maybe pick up another customer. Turning down the offer of a ride, Ace reached out to open the door as Kurasame stood in the hall watching him leave. Ace was just about to step through the doorway when Kurasame spoke.

 

“Ace.” Ace paused, looking over his shoulder in question.

 

“Stay. Please stay.”

 

Ace's hand fell from the door as he turned towards the older man.

 

“I can't stay. You know that. Please don't ask that of me.”

 

“Please, stay Ace. I want you here.”

 

Ace turned away from Kurasame once again. “You know what I do for a living Kurasame. Anything other than this is just not possible.”

 

Striding forwards urgently, Kurasame tried to draw Ace into his arms, and Ace was weak and couldn't resist the warmth Kurasame radiated.

 

“I don't care what you do for a living. I still want you to stay.”  _With me_ wasn't said aloud, but it was heard none the less.

 

“Kurasame....” Ace was at a loss. He wanted to stay, but he couldn't. Could he?

 

“I will buy your every night if I have to, but please I want you to stay.” Kurasame was nearly begging by this point and Ace crumbled.

 

“Damn you Kurasame! How am I meant to tell you no?” Ace pounded his fist against Kurasame's broad chest.

 

“You aren't. You can stay with me, and I will support us both. You can do whatever you want, but please just stay.”

 

Ace turned his face up towards the down-turned face of Kurasame, cupping his face in his hands and gently pulling the man down towards himself.

 

“You win Kurasame. I'll stay with you. Now you had better take responsibility.”

 

Before Kurasame could respond, Ace's lips connected with his own for their first kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this isn't really that angsty......and again I don't really care :)  
> I needed some happiness after killing Kurasame last chapter.


	14. Torture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Mentions of self harm
> 
> Not my best work, and also not the normal kind of torture but I am a tad bit squeamish so this is what you get instead.

 

 

Ace had to admit that he never thought that things would turn out like this. This being watching the love of his life flirting, dating, _kissing_ other people all with a casual disregard for his feelings.

 

The used to be together Qator and Ace, but when Ace asked for commitment after over a year of being together, Qator had turned around and said that wasn't what he wanted. Qator wanted an open relationship, yet Ace wanted monogamy and somehow things had just fallen apart from there.

 

Ace felt that his heart was left in shattered pieces within his chest, digging in deeper and deeper every day. Not only had their break up cost him his lover, but Qator had once been someone he thought of as one of his best friends too. Ace missed being able to call the other man just to chat, missed being able to hang out together doing nothing or playing games.

 

It had seemed so natural at the time for things to progress into more, the friendly hugs and kisses had turned to seeking hands and passionate fervour. They had enjoyed each other for a year and Ace had thought that what they had could last forever. He didn't want to think about Qator being with someone else anymore and had tried to seek reassurance from him that what they had was important enough to become exclusive with each other.

 

Instead of reassurance though, Qator had told Ace that he wanted to sleep around more, date more people. He didn't want to be tied down to one person, regardless of the fact that he had not been seeking satisfaction elsewhere for the past year. It seemed as though the very thought of having the choice taken from him, was enough to have Qator running scared.

 

And so they had broken up and Ace fell apart. He could only be glad for the support of the boy he had recently befriended, though he hated burdening him with all of his troubles. For his part, Kurasame did not mind comforting Ace, as he had never been able to understand the relationship that the two had had anyway.

 

Kurasame stood beside Ace as they watched Qator flaunt his dalliances in the college halls. Watched as every place and thing that Ace had held dear in his heart as somewhere special to Qator and himself defiled by Qator bringing his dates to. Kurasame watched as Ace's tortured face screamed out in despair, yet Qator either didn't notice, or didn't care any longer.

 

What Kurasame didn't know though, was that Ace tortured himself not only mentally, but physically too. He starved himself, sure that Qator had been disgusted with his weight – was that a roll of fat there on his stomach? He told himself day after day that he was stupid and not good enough, that of course Qator would leave him as he wasn't worthy of being with such a man. And when it all got too much and it seemed like he was going to explode out of his skin in despair, Ace cut lines of bloody red into his arms and legs.

 

Ace would sit upon the tiled floor of his bathroom tracing a small pen knife along the flesh now marred by other days. The bloody welling to the surface and running down his arms as it spilled over calmed the storm in his heart. This here, this was a physical pain that he could deal with. This was a pain that Ace could give or take for himself. There was no other in control of this but Ace, and right now Ace needed that. Needed to not feel that ache in his chest, or that soul destroying hatred of himself for not being _good enough_.

 

 

Kurasame noticed Ace's sudden drop in weight after his break up. He tried to make sure the other boy ate, but could only watch helplessly as he broke in up into tiny pieces and pushed those pieces around on his plate. Day after day, Kurasame could only watch as Ace seemed to fade away before his eyes. Gods he wanted to punch Qator for doing this to Ace. Wanted to take that fancy blade that he carried as decoration as one of the college sword masters and leave a thousand cuts upon his skin. One for every bit of hurt that he had inflicted upon Ace.

 

It was only months later that he discovered Ace's other coping methods, and that was completely by accident. Ace had stood up from the lunch table they were seated at, and the lack of food finally caught up to him, and he swayed on the spot. Kurasame quickly grabbed his arm to steady him, only for Ace to blanch and turn away.

 

Confused at the action, Kurasame turned towards where Ace was looking only to see Qator and his latest lover approaching with a look of what might be considered genuine concern on his face. Kurasame watched as Ace's face paled even further at his approach, before he fainted dead away. Startled Kurasame had to lunge forwards to catch Ace's falling body and lift him off of the ground.

 

Qator hurried over to try to take him from Kurasame, but Kurasame snarled at the other man. There was no way in hell that he was going to hand Ace over to this arsehole. Leaning forwards, keeping a tight hold on the oh so frail body within his grasp, Kurasame growled a threat in Qator's ear. Qator paled at the shorter man's words and hurriedly grabbed his lover and retreated.

 

Carrying Ace back to his room and laying him gently down on his bed, Kurasame noticed that his hand was spotted in blood. Alarmed, Kurasame searched Ace for the source of the blood. Noticing the smudged redness on Ace's arms, Kurasame pulled his sleeve up and stared horrified at the criss crossing cuts that decorated the pale skin before him.

 

Kurasame's heart stopped beating for a minute as he witnessed just how deep the pain ran through Ace. He promised himself and Ace that from now on he would protect the other boy, that was the only thing that would satisfy his growing rage. He vowed that no one would hurt Ace again, even Ace himself.

 

Kurasame cursed himself. His friend had been hurting so badly and he had missed the signs. He could only thank whatever deity out there watching over Ace that he had not found out too late.

 


	15. Manhandling

 

“Let me go! Let me go dammit!” Ace screamed as his brother manhandled him away from the rushing waters of the overflowing river.

 

Once away from the edge, Nine let his screaming, sobbing brother collapse to the ground making sure to stand between him and the river. Though it hurt Nine to have to handle his brother this way, it would hurt them all more to see Ace throw himself into the river trying to follow his friend and lover.

 

Nine wasn't quite sure just how the situation had gotten this bad, just that as soon as the news from the front lines had come containing information regarding Kurasame's death, Ace had been just as keen to follow as soon as possible. Nine and his other siblings had been taking turns watching over Ace, but today when he had thought that the other boy was sleeping he had stepped out for a drink only to return to an empty room.

 

When the shock of seeing the bed empty had registered in his mind, Nine had shouted out to the rest and taken off in what he hoped was the right direction. He had raced as fast as his feet could take him, only to burst through the tree line to see Ace ankle deep in the rushing river, arms spread in supplication.

 

With a cry of disbelief, Nine had launched himself at his younger brother grabbing him by the waist and pulling him bodily from the water, panic making him less gentle that he would normally have tried to be. And thus they had made it to this moment, Ace screaming at Nine to let him go, and he didn't just mean to let go of the physical hold that he had on him.

 

It killed Nine inside to see his brother like this. Gods, why did Kurasame have to be conscripted? Ace had desperately tried to join along with his lover when the orders had come in, but a frail body had stopped him from being accepted. They had known that death was a possibility, but Ace wondered if he had been by Kurasame's side if he would have been able to save the other man. Would he have lost his own life only to save his lover? Yes, Ace would willingly give up anything for him, but now he was gone and he wasn't going to return, and Ace was left alone once again.

 

Nine just didn't understand. Ace couldn't stand living in a world where Kurasame wasn't in it. He didn't want to try anymore, the yawning emptiness within him drowned out rational thought and reason.

 

Nine startled when Ace leapt past him trying once again to find solace in the depths of the water, managing to grasp the edge of his clothing and once again hauling him back as the screams started again. This time Nine didn't let Ace go, but held him tightly to his chest and started to carry him home.

 

Within his arms Ace kicked, bit, thrashed and screamed, but Nine did not loosen his hold on him. He didn't dare. Something within him knew that if he let go that that would be the last time he saw his brother alive. Nine made it back to their home to see the rest of their siblings standing worriedly near the front door. With a subtle shake of his head he dismissed the others, Ace would be mortified if they all saw him like this.

 

Shouldering his way into Ace's room, Nine gently shoved the door closed with his foot before lying the struggling boy down on his bed. Ace immediately tried to leap off the bed once again, but Nine laid down beside him and once again manhandled him into lying down. Nine used his greater height and weight advantage to hold Ace down as he struggled to escape, until finally after what seemed like hours, Ace had exhausted himself.

 

It was only then that the tears came. Screams turned into great wracking sobs that tore from Ace's chest and left him shaking. Nine gathered his broken brother into his arms, holding him tightly as he ran gentle hands along Ace's back in a soothing motion letting him cry.

 

Ace's furious screams turned into ones of anguish instead, hands gripped Nine's shirt and beat against his chest in despair. Tears soaked Nine's shirt and the covers below as Ace finally had to face his pain instead of running from it. They lay there for what could have been hours, Nine holding Ace together, keeping him from flying apart and disappearing within himself. Ace had finally quietened, spent and drained. He felt empty, as though the tears had drained him of all feeling, and it was now that Nine spoke.

 

“Promise me Ace,” Nine tilted Ace's blotchy face up towards his. “Promise me that you won't do that again to me. To us. We can't lose you too.”

 

Ace's face crumpled up in pain again and he tried to turn away from Nine's pleading eyes, but Nine held his chin firmly not allowing him to hide.

 

“No Ace. Promise me. Dammit you know if Kurasame was here he would kick your arse for even thinking about it!”

 

Ace's eyes flashed in anger at the harsh words.

 

“Don't you dare tell me what Kurasame would or wouldn't have done! He's DEAD!”

 

“I know he's dead!” Nine yelled back. “But that doesn't mean that I don't know what he would have done. He would have called you stupid and selfish. He wouldn't have wanted you to do something as dumb as that! You know this Ace! Stop trying to pretend like you don't!”

 

Ace averted his eyes in shame. Nine was right. Kurasame would have berated him for his foolish actions if he had been able. But then if he had been able, he wouldn't have been dead and Ace wouldn't have tried.

 

“I know.” Ace whispered, so quietly and brokenly that Nine barely heard him. “He would have gotten that really disapproving look on his face and given me a lecture that lasted for days.” Ace laughed wetly. “He was always the best part of me.”

 

“He would have. He would have gotten that stupid little frown thing on his face, and we all would have had to deal with passive aggressive Kurasame being grumpy at you. He wasn't just the best part of you Ace, he helped you bring out the best of yourself. But he is still with you in your heart. You are never without him, he will always be with you as long as you remember him.”

 

Ace buried his face back into Nine's shoulder, more tears falling from his eyes.

 

“I know Nine. He will always be with me, because I will always love him, until my dying breath. But gods dammit I miss him already.”

 

Nine didn't say to that, he just held Ace until he fell asleep, tears still staining his face.

 

“I know Ace. I miss him too.”

 


	16. Bedridden

 

Kurasame woke slowly, his body felt weighed down and ached everywhere. He tried to open his eyes to see where he was, although the soft padding of footsteps and the low murmurs of others around him gave him a pretty strong indication of where he was.

 

Kurasame was a little startled when gentle hands lifted his limbs, a warm cloth running carefully over his flesh before it was patted dry and wrapped in fresh bandages. The feeling of those soft hands upon his skin gave Kurasame the will to attempt to pry open his eyes, no matter how much they seemed to want to remain closed.

 

The effort in the end definitely proved to be worth it. A young blond nurse tended to him diligently, repeating the steps of wash, dry, wrap on all of his limbs. It was only as he began to open the buttons of his nightshirt that he looked up and was hazy blue eyes staring back at him. With a small startled shriek, the blonde stumbled back a step and ended up falling on his behind. Hurried footsteps raced towards the curtained off area that Kurasame just now realised that he was in.

 

The Matron of the medical ward drew back the outer curtain quickly, slipping inside to assess the problem. Instead of an emergency like she was expecting, she saw her new trainee healer on the floor with a face flushed an angry red. Looking towards the bed, she saw that her patient was staring at the boy as though he had hung the moon. Shaking her head in exasperation, the Matron turned to speak to her newly awakened patient, though before she could Kurasame spoke first.

 

“Are you an angel?” Kurasame asked staring down at the vision before him. “Did I die and you are here to take me away?”

 

He watched in fascination as the blonde before him turned even redder and tried to hide behind his hands. Kurasame tried to sit up to see him better, but as soon as he started trying to move waves of pain crashed into him and he fell back gasping in pain.

 

This seemed to be all the incentive that the blonde boy had needed to return to his side however, so Kurasame would count that as a partial win. It also brought the frowning Matron to his side too, both easing him back onto his pillows. To Kurasame's dismay, the little blonde quickly rushed from the area, a quick look at the disapproving look the Matron shot him enough to keep him silent.

 

Kurasame brightened considerably as the boy slipped back into the room carrying what looked to be a syringe full of liquid. Handing it over to the head nurse, she checked the contents and dosage before adding it to the drip that Kurasame had not even been aware was inserted into his hand. It didn't take long for the pain relievers to take effect, and Kurasame found himself slumping bonelessly as the pain receded.

 

“Thank you Nurse Ace. You've done well.” Ace flushed in pleasure at the praise drawing Kurasame's eye once again. “You may attend to your other duties now, I will stay and inform Cadet Susaya of any relevant information regarding his condition.”

 

' _Noooo!'_ Kurasame mentally screamed. _'Don't send the angel, Ace, away!'_

 

Nodding quietly in understanding, Ace sent a small smile towards Kurasame and bid him farewell as he once again slipped beyond the curtain. A sudden cough from the Matron drew Kurasame's gaze back towards her amused face, but that look quickly faded.

 

“Do you remember why you are here?” She asked gently.

 

Too gently. Kurasame could not remember her ever being so kind before. He wracked his brains trying to remember why he might have ended up in the medical wards, and eventually he came up with the memory of going into battle against a traitor with the Four Champions. The remaining three had been sent out to deal with the traitor, but after setting off the memories all seemed to fade and Kurasame could not remember anything else.

 

“The...the traitor?” He questioned.

 

“Yes, you dealt with the traitor,” Matron replied. “But you did not escape unscathed, and as such you are to remain in bed until you are recovered.”

 

Her worn hands ran carefully down the sides of Kurasame's face, causing him to become aware that nearly the entire lower half of his face was covered in gauze. Ignoring the pain that it caused him, Kurasame brought his hands up to feel for himself the damage that had been left behind.

 

_Flames, coming towards him, burning him alive and consuming him. Fire, heat, betrayal, he was the last of them now...._

 

Kurasame felt shame fill him as his eyes flooded with tears that he refused to shed. People that must have been his friends, comrades, had died. He hadn't been strong enough to protect them. Again. Kurasame lurched upwards, startling the Matron, and tried to throw himself out of the bed. He needed to leave. Needed to find the truth for himself, needed to see their graves even if he didn't know who they were anymore.

 

Struggling to hold him back, the Matron shouted for help as Kurasame struggled against her hold. Nurses flew in from seemingly all directions at the call, and they all struggled to hold back the flailing cadet. None of them wanted to hold or grip too tightly and cause further damage, but neither did they want to see him injure himself further by trying to leave.

 

It was only as Nurse Ace entered that Kurasame's struggles lessened. At the sight of the other boy entering, Kurasame threw himself towards the blonde gripping tightly to his uniform as Ace held him up as well as he was able. Legs trembling from overexertion, Kurasame lent heavily against the smaller boy.

 

Vaguely Kurasame thought that he could hear someone screaming or crying, they sounded like they were in so much pain that he felt sorry for the poor soul. The feeling of gentle hands running through his hair brought Kurasame to enough awareness to realise that it was he himself that was screaming.

 

His face was buried in Ace's neck, tears soaking the poor boys' uniform as he held the traumatised cadet. Ace swayed under the weight of the taller cadet, and tried to gently lead them back towards the bed but Kurasame would not let go nor move. With a quiet sigh of defeat, Ace lowered them as gently as he could to sit upon the floor. The other nurses looked scandalised at this, but looking at the Matron who just shrugged helplessly there was nothing they could say.

 

Pulling a blanket down off of the bed, she gently placed it around the heaving shoulders of the cadet that had all but climbed his way into her trainee nurse's lap. Shaking her head in fond exasperation, she quietly told Ace to look after Kurasame then retreated back to resume her duties, leaving the boys to their privacy.

 

Kurasame was completely unaware of any of this. His mind was filled with pain and the only way he could let it out was the tortured screams that tore themselves from his throat. To help shelter the other patients from the terrible sounds coming from the boys' mouth, Ace cast a shielded bubble around them to contain the noise.

 

Tears soaked Ace's shoulder, but that was the least of his worries right now. For now, his top priority was to try to calm the cadet within his arms and try to prevent him from doing further damage to himself. Ace could already see where the struggles had reopened wounds on Kurasame's body and bloody had seeped through the bandages.

 

Ace was not sure how long it took for the older boy to calm, he sat quietly running his hands over tousled blue hair smoothing the locks soothingly, and murmuring quiet words of reassurance. Ace's body ached from holding up the other's weight, and his legs had long since gone numb supporting the larger boys' frame by the time that he realised that Kurasame had fallen into a fitful doze.

 

Sending out a small magical alert to the Matron asking for help, Ace sadly watched the other's face as he dreamed, most likely caught up in nightmares and half forgotten memories. Footsteps approaching broke Ace from his reverie, and a few of the stronger nurses helped to carefully lift Kurasame off of Ace and back into his bed. The Matron came and helped Ace to his feet, letting him lean against her as he tried to regain his balance.

 

Dismissing the others once Kurasame was back, the Matron directed Ace to remain to watch over him. Surprised, Ace agreed quickly the feeling of wanting to help the cadet filling him. He stayed all night as Kurasame tossed and turned, soothing him with gentle touches and soft words. He held the boy as he cried out in his dreams, tears once again leaking from reddened eyes.

 

Ace denied himself sleep that night to watch over this broken cadet. Something about this boy...... He may have been broken, alone and stuck in a bed for the foreseeable future, but somehow Ace felt that one day he would do great things.

 


	17. Drugged

 

Kurasame could not even begin to describe the feel of relief that crashed through him as the airship transporting the missing cadets from Class Zero landed at the docking station. This feeling was only compounded as his eyes fell on his diminutive lover and he confirmed for himself that Ace was relatively unharmed.

 

Unable to run and embrace Ace as he wished to do, Kurasame called out to the cadets and told them that they would all debrief in the classroom in fifteen minutes. Wearily, the cadets grumbled out confirmations and trudged their way back inside the imposing building. On his way out, Ace caught his lover's eye and sent a small smile towards the older man, hidden from prying eyes.

 

Once they had all left the docking area, Kurasame turned also and made his way to the class. He didn't have to wait long before Ace entered and threw himself into his arms. Holding Ace closely, Kurasame breathed in his scent and thanked whoever was watching over them for returning them all safely to Rubrum. The rest of the class wandered in one by one, each giving a playful whistle or scoff at the display at the front of the class.

 

Drawing away reluctantly, though not letting go, Kurasame laid out the situation to Class Zero. Once upon a time he had tried to distance himself from these children, but they had broken through his defences and now he could do nothing but reveal the truth as the Consortium planned to tell. They knew that they were innocent, but without proof their top Commanders wanted someone to blame to shift to focus off of themselves.

 

No one in that room was stupid enough to believe that the simple laying of blame would be enough to placate them however, but at that point in time they did not know just how far their superiors were willing to go. Kurasame promised to let them all know what was decided after he himself was debriefed by the other Commanders, and with that dismissed them to go find food and rest.

 

Ace lingered a little longer after the others had left, wanting to soak in the presence of his boyfriend. The whole time that they had been on the run and hiding, Ace had wondered if he would ever again get to see his Commander. Would that be the last time that he was able to look into icy blue eyes? Would he never again be able to run his fingers through soft slate coloured hair? Kiss those lips, that others never got a chance to see? And so he stayed holding Kurasame tightly, just to reassure himself that he was here and able to do this.

 

Silent minutes passed before they eventually had to draw back from each other, eyes locked with matching looks of longing and relief reflected in each others' gaze.

 

“Meet me for dinner in my quarters?” Kurasame asked with a soft smile, only the slight crinkling of skin by his eyes showing the change of expression.

 

Ace nodded his agreement, desperately wanting to spend more time together.

 

“I need to head off now to debrief,” Kurasame withdrew reluctantly, a gentle hand stroking over Ace's cheek. “I'll see you later.”

 

Without turning back, Kurasame left Ace slumped against the front desk, the door closing quietly behind him.

 

Ace stayed where he was standing for a moment, heart beating frantically within his chest. A feeling of foreboding washed over him, crushing him from the inside out. Something bad was going to happen, he could feel it. Now he just had to work out a way to stop whatever it was from happening.

 

 

 

The sound of raised voices could be heard before Kurasame even arrived at the doors to the Chancellor's rooms, though they ceased abruptly as he knocked on the door. Once he was bid enter, Kurasame calmly pushed open the heavy oaken doors and walked into the room. He came to a stop before both the Chancellor and Commandant, each with a different look on their face.

 

The Chancellor looked immeasurably sad as though a great tragedy was to befall Kurasame, sending a chill to race down his spine. The Commandant however, he looked downright gleeful. For a reason that Kurasame had never been able to work out, the Commandant had always harboured a strong dislike for Kurasame that had only increased as he become the CO for Class Zero. Here now, was a chance to make him pay, and pay Kurasame would.

 

 

 

 

Kurasame felt numb as he made his way to his rooms that night. Although the ultimatum he had been given had not exactly been surprising, what was surprising had been the complete lack of support from any other person within that room. To be willing to throw away lives as though they did not matter, Kurasame had thought that Rubrum was better than that. It was almost a relief that he would not have to bear witness to the declining morals that would surely bring them ruin. His only regret was that Ace would be left to deal with everything on his own. Not even memories of their time together to comfort the quiet boy.

 

Pushing open the door of his room, Kurasame could see Ace sitting on his couch quietly reading while he waited for Kurasame to arrive. Kurasame stood by the door watching his lover quietly. His eyes ran over every inch that he could, committing everything to memory as though afraid that he might forget.

 

Ace looked up at the sound of the door closing with a smile on his young face, a smile that quickly turned into a frown at the look on his boyfriend's face. Placing the book down upon the low coffee table before him, Ace scrambled to his feet and rushed to Kurasame's side. Grabbing hold of the sides of his face, Ace questioned him.

 

“What's wrong Kurasame?”

 

Heaving a silent sigh, Kurasame smiled wanly back at Ace.

 

“Nothing. Nothing is wrong Ace. I am just tired, I've been up the last few nights worrying about a certain group of cadets that went MIA after their last mission.”

 

Ace looked incredibly unimpressed with this response however.

 

“U huh. Now how about you tell me what is actually wrong and we can work it out?”

 

Staring down into earnest eyes, Kurasame could not find it within himself to lie to Ace again.

 

“As the blame for the Queen's death has been laid upon Class Zero's door, the punishment is expulsion for the entire class.” Ace drew in a quick breath of shock. “However if I take command of a unit in the upcoming battle, they will dismiss the charges against you all.”

 

Ace stared deeply into Kurasame's eyes. There was something else, something that the other was holding back from him and Ace would not allow that. There were no secrets between them, and this would be no different.

 

“What unit?” Ace ground out.

 

Kurasame let out a quiet, questioning 'hmm?' in response.

 

“What unit are you going to be commanding?”

 

Kurasame was a little taken aback at how forceful the question was, and hesitated in answering. The look on Ace's face turned into a scowl the longer he delayed answering though. So gathering his courage, Kurasame told him.

 

“The first summoning unit assisting Lady Caetuna.”

 

Ace drew back with a choked intake of breath. That....that position was no less than a signed death warrant. The turnover in the summoning units was incredibly high, for the simple reason that rarely did anyone survive a normal summoning let alone a summon lead by a l'Cie for a Verboten Eidolon.

 

“Kurasame!” Ace cried out, backing away from the man. “Noooo! No I won't accept this!”

 

“Ace! Ace please!” Kurasame reached out to his retreating lover, trying to hold the boy to stop him shaking.

 

“That was their condition, and even the Chancellor gave his agreement to the solution.”

 

Ace broke down crying, burying his tearful face into Kurasame's neck. Kurasame held him tightly, throughout the night. Never once letting go of him. Death would separate them soon enough, there was no reason to do so himself.

 

The next morning Kurasame woke alone in his bed, footwear and jacket removed and tucked under the covers lovingly. Of Ace there was no sign, but Kurasame realised that after his loss of control last night that Ace was most likely needing some time alone to come to terms with everything. Later that morning, he found Ace exiting the Crystarium, but thought nothing of it as the other was a renowned bookworm. Ace sent a tired smile Kurasame's way, before they both headed their separate ways.

 

Plans for the battle did not take long to be made, and Kurasame could only wish that he had more time. The night before the battle, Kurasame invited Ace once again to his rooms to dine with him one last times. The look on Ace's face as he gazed steadily back at him as he accepted the invitation, broke Kurasame's heart.

 

The mood that night was heavy with unspoken words and neither really ate the food that had been brought up to them. Eventually abandoning the pretence of eating, they retreated to the couch to hold each other. As the hours ticked by, Ace pulled himself away from Kurasame murmuring that he was going to go make coffee. Returning a few minutes later, Ace suggested that they lay in bed with their drinks.

 

Wary, but unwilling to deny his lover anything, they moved to the bedroom where they quietly changed into sleepwear. Sipping at his drink, Kurasame could feel exhaustion pulling at him and mumbled a soft apology to Ace. The look Ace had on his face alarmed him and Kurasame tried to sit up and ask why he was looking at him like that, but Kurasame found that he could not move. His muscles would not listen to him and thick fog clouded his thoughts and dragged him towards oblivion. The last thing Kurasame thought he heard was Ace's sobbing voice.

 

“ _I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I love you, please forgive me.”_

 

 

 

Ace watched as Kurasame fell unconscious. He hadn't been sure that the drug that Kazuza had given him would work, but he hadn't had any other choices but to trust that crazy guy. At first he had not wanted to help Ace, but once Ace had reminded him that otherwise Kurasame would die, he had caved and handed over the small vial of knock out drug.

 

“ _Pour this into either Kurasame's food or drink. It should last 12 hours as long as he gets a full dose.”_  
  
Ace nodded in understanding clutching the vial to his chest. A gentle hand upon his shoulder drawing his attention towards the other man in the room with him once again.

 

“ _You do know that Kurasame wouldn't want you to do this right?”_

 

“ _I know.” Ace replied quietly. “But if I don't, he will die and I can't live with that.”  
_

“ _He'll never forgive you for this you know?”_

 

_Turning to walk out the door, Ace paused. “He won't remember.” With those final sad words, Ace left tossing a 'Thanks.' over his shoulder._

 

_Kazuza watched sadly as the boy walked out of his lab, praying to the gods to spare him._

 

 

Ace stayed up all night watching over Kurasame, brushing fingertips over the contours of his face committing it all to memory. He remembered a time when Kurasame had done the same to him, and could only wish that those memories could remain. As the sun broke over the horizon, Ace laid one last kiss upon Kurasame's lips, a final farewell, before he dressed silently and left. Ace's steps were steady as they made their way towards the Chancellor's rooms where the commanders were waiting.

 

A firm knock on the door and a barked command to enter later and Ace found himself staring down the glaring occupants of the room.

 

“And just who in the nine hells are you? Get out, this is no place for a cadet!”

 

“My name is Cadet Ace, and I am here to inform you that unfortunately Commander Kurasame is currently indisposed and that I will be taking his place today as Unit Commander.”

 


	18. Hostage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much crack. I couldn't think of a proper angsty fic for this prompt, so you get this instead.

 

Kurasame was in shock. Never had he expected to be betrayed so summarily by both his lover and his best friend.

 

Currently said man was being threatened with the combined might of a pack of dangerously glowing cards, and a drug that Kurasame was not sure he wanted to find out what effect it had. He looked into the eyes of the two before him, seeing nothing but anger and disgust. If Kurasame had been a lesser man, he might have given in right then and there. However he was a strong man, bravery and skills honed in battle and strife and he would not bow to the pressure.

 

Instead of giving in, Kurasame threw a cheeky smirk towards the two and fled in the opposite direction. The element of surprise, gave Kurasame at least five seconds head start before he could hear yelling and strangely enough, angry sounding footsteps pursuing him.

 

“Get back here you no good cretin!” Ace yelled out. “I will string you up by you privates and leave you for the rest of Akademeia to find!”

 

“Yeah!” Kazuza yelled as he too pursued his fleeing friend. “What the kid said!”

 

Even though Kazuza was faithfully chasing after the other man, he really had no idea why. Only that this angry and crazed cadet had asked him to help track him down, and that he would help Kazuza to have some time to try out some new things on him. Kazuza could only pity Kurasame when they caught up to him, he couldn't even begin to imagine what the man had done to draw the ire of one of the top cadets.

 

“How about no?” Kurasame laughingly threw over his shoulder. He swore and ducked as a card flew past his head, trimming a few stray hairs on it's way through.

 

“Hey is that really necessary?” Kurasame went skidding around a corner trying to find cover.

 

“You are damn right it is necessary! You get your perverted arse back here right now and delete that damn photo!”

 

“No ways in hell!”

 

And honestly who in their right mind would delete the picture of their lover dressed as a maid? Kurasame wasn't exactly sure why Ace had been dressed like that, though he had a thought that is probably had something to do with his sisters, but there was no way on Orience that he was going to willingly delete that piece of blackmail material. Also....well Ace looked hot and Kurasame wouldn't mind having a reminder of that with him at all times.

 

The sounds of pursuit finally fell away, and rather than be relieved, Kurasame became wary. Ace was not one to give up on a fight, and the fact that he had fallen back could not bode well for Kurasame. It meant that Ace was plotting, and a plotting Ace was a very dangerous Ace.

 

Shambling footsteps alerted Kurasame to someone approaching from the opposite direction, and Kurasame turned expecting to see Ace standing there. Instead a confused looking Kazuza stood there looking almost as white as a sheet and as though he would rather be anywhere but there. Kazuza reached out and laid a tentative hand upon Kurasame's arm as though keeping him in place. A tiny tingle of something passed through Kurasame, but nothing happened so he dismissed it.

 

Trying to summon his boreal blade, Kurasame was alarmed when it didn't materialise in his hand. That could only mean one thing – someone had found the location of it's physical form and had removed it from the crystal space that it inhabited whilst un-summoned. As if on cue, Ace came towards the two frozen men carrying the icy blade in his delicate hands. A look of determination painted across his normally angelic face.

 

“Ah Kazuza you caught him, my thanks.” Ace ignored Kurasame in order to acknowledge the other man standing there.

 

Kazuza let out a strangled sound that might have meant anything. Ace turned away from him and finally turned his attention to Kurasame. A serene smile spread across his face as he studied the wary man before him.

 

“Kurasame.”

 

A wary look was his only response. Not that Ace had expected differently.

 

“I see you have noticed that I have your blade with me.” Ace gave the heavy sword a few practice swings, purposely pretending to almost drop it causing Kurasame to wince and pray that he didn't damage it.

 

“It would be such a shame if it were to go missing no?”

 

Kurasame gaped at his lover. Missing? Just what in the hell did Ace plan to do?

 

“Of course, I could be persuaded to hand it over right now if you were to give me your phone so that I can delete that photo and any copies that you have made.”

 

Kurasame wasn't sure if he had heard right.

 

“Are....are you holding my sword hostage?” Kurasame asked incredulously. “In return for a picture being deleted? Ace! How is that even fair?”

 

Ace simply laughed at Kurasame's shocked face.

 

“Why lover, didn't you know? All's fair in love and war. And this, this is war.”

 

Damn, this is why Kurasame tried never to come up against Ace and his scheming mind. Kurasame tried desperately to think up a way that he could recover both is sword and keep the picture, but there was nothing that he could think of. And by the look on Ace's face, he knew it too, smug arsehole.

 

“Fine, hand me my sword and I will delete the picture.”

 

Kurasame had not expected Ace to burst out laughing when he said that.

 

“Oh love, I am really not that stupid. I know that as soon as I hand over the sword I will have nothing left to bargain with. I also know that there will be no way to check that you have deleted all copies of that picture either. So no, toss me the phone first and then I will surrender your sword to you.”

 

Rather grumpily, Kurasame complied, throwing the phone over to Ace and watching as he went through the pictures and files tracking down all copies of the picture and relegating them to the void. However instead of handing Kurasame back his sword, Ace let go of it. Horrified, Kurasame lunged forwards trying to save the blade, only to have it disintegrate into crystal particles before reaching his hands. Shocked, Kurasame sat back on his heels looking to Ace for an explanation.

 

Ace laughed lightly.

 

“I never actually had your physical blade with me at all.” He could tell that Kurasame was confused, if he hadn't taken the blade then why hadn't he been able to summon it?

 

“Kazuza used a special new drug on you to temporarily cut your connection with the crystal space holding your sword, that's why you can't summon it.”

 

Kurasame remembered the tingling feeling he had felt when Kazuza had grabbed his arm. Shooting a look towards his friend, Kurasame noticed the look of glee on the other man's face.

 

“Here.”

 

That was the only warning Ace gave as he threw Kurasame's phone back to him, and it was only his quick reflexes that prevented him for getting smacked in the face. Kurasame could only glare at his lover as Ace raised a hand to hide his giggles.

 

Oh that was it. Kurasame was going to make Ace pay. He tried to think of what he could withhold from Ace that would make the other sweat, and when he came up with a plan a devious smirk appeared on his face. He wasn't sure quite what expression he was making, but it was obviously enough that Ace was starting to look a little alarmed.

 

Oh yes Ace, you were going to regret trying to take the boreal blade hostage in this game of war.

 


	19. Exhausted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Suicide

 

Gods he was tired. The monotony of day after day of soul destroying work, insults flooding in from every direction, felt like it was grinding his body to dust. Exhaustion weighed heavily upon him, and there was no end in sight.

 

Ace stood upon the precipice, both figuratively and literally hovering on the edge ready to fall either way. The raging waves far beneath him a close match to the emotions that churned beneath the surface of his seemingly calm facade. The howling wind whipped his loose blonde hair about, strands getting caught on his eyelashes and covering the tormented blue eyes gazing out towards the horizon.

 

How had his life gotten to this stage? What had he done to deserve such scorn from his peers? Would anybody even miss him if he was gone?

 

Ace tilted his head back and let the wind dry the tears that fell silently from his eyes. Ace had been told once that crying could be cathartic, but his tears offered him no such relief. For Ace, they simply signified yet another failure – one to be able to keep his emotions in check, never let the world see how far you had fallen.

 

 

 

“ _Ace baby, don't ever be ashamed of your tears, they are your soul crying out for help and you must let them fall lest you damage your soul beyond repair.”_

 

Mummy please don't go....

 

 

“ _Haha! Look at the little crybaby! Who you gonna go cry to loser? Mummy? Oh that's right you can't, because she's dead! Just like you should be too!”_

 

Mummy why did you leave me all alone?

 

 

“ _You are so weak Ace! How am I meant to introduce you as my boyfriend when I can't stand anything you do? I'm breaking up with you, grow up.”_

 

Am I really not good enough?

 

 

“ _Gods could you be anymore overemotional? Damn this didn't even make me tear up and you are practically bawling your eyes out. Control your emotions dude.”_

 

Control my emotions...? Hide them, don't let anyone see how the affect you.

 

 

“ _I'm sorry Ace, but there just is no room for a person like you in this company any longer. We need bright, vibrant people who try their best. And that is not you.”_

 

What sort of person am I? Aren't I trying my best? Wasn't I told not to show emotion?

 

 

“ _No, just no. Don't talk to me anymore, don't contact me. I can't have your reputation ruining mine. From now on we don't know each other.”_

 

You never knew me in the first place, I don't even know who I am anymore either.

 

 

 

Ace sobbed as memories ran through his mind, every time he had reached out to someone and been cruelly rejected. He had tried to be who they had wanted him to be, had tried for so long to be someone else that he no longer knew who he was. Was he the emotionless automaton that he had become over the years? Was that the true him? The emotions battering at the crumbling walls inside of Ace screamed no. But if that was not who he was, then just who was he?

 

The beep of his phone alerted Ace to an incoming call, and he when he checked the caller ID he saw that it was his workplace. Hastily Ace answered the call with a quiet 'hello.'

 

“Ace, good you answered. This is a courtesy call to let you know that you are fired. We have had multiple complaints about your terrible attitude and we can no longer overlook your declining performance. You have until the end of the week to clear out your desk, and your final pay-check will be ready for you in Finance. Good bye.”

 

Ace didn't even have a chance to get a word in before the dial tone droned in his ear. The dull tone grew fainter as the phone fell from nerveless fingers and hurtled hundreds of meters below into the violent sea. Ace envied the phone in that moment. To fly through the air with nothing holding it back, to be able to escape reality.

 

It took Ace a moment to notice that he was standing closer to the edge than before, toes suspended in the air. His arms were spread as though wings would sudden burst forth from his back and carry him away to a place where he could belong. A place where he could rest forever and finally leave this exhaustion behind him.

 

Could he do it? Ace wondered. Could he let himself fall, free himself from this mortal realm? Would the Goddess of Life punish him for scorning the gift of life that she had bestowed upon him? Would the God of Death welcome him with open arms and give him a place to stay? Ace was conflicted. He wasn't ready to die, but neither did he want to continue living. There was nothing left for him here anymore, no job, no friends or lovers, nothing.

 

In the end the choice was taken from him. Head tipped back almost in supplication, arms spread to welcome the wind – a strong gust threw Ace off balance, and suddenly he was falling. Terror filling Ace for a moment before the sense of freedom filled him instead. Opening his tearing eyes, Ace watched as he fell, watched the world fly past him, nothing holding him back – Free.

 

The waves rose up to meet him as he fell, almost in welcome. Ace closed his eyes just before he hit the water, a smile on his face. Yes, this was his place now. This is where he belonged and peace was finally his to claim. The icy waves closed over Ace's head as he broke the surface, covering Ace and hiding him away from the rest of the world.

 


	20. Concussion

 

Kurasame smiled as he looked out at the children playing in the yard. After the war had been won, Kurasame and Ace had left Akademeia to live in peace on their own out in the country. Although they had missed friends and siblings, they had needed to get away from the reminders of the war and all the things that had happened there.

 

Months after they had moved, Ace had stumbled across a child on his way home from the store. Dirty and tired, the child looked like it was on it's last legs, and Ace quickly made the decision to bring the poor boy home after hearing that he was both homeless and a war orphan. Thus began the slippery slope that had lead to them now caring for currently eight children.

 

The number went up and down sometimes as the children found new homes with families that loved and cared for them, though often times both the families and children would visit just to see Ace and Kurasame again. Pictures covered the walls inside their house of both current and past children that they had cared for, more and more getting added every year.

 

Over the years, a few of their friends and family had also had to same idea to move out and away from the cities, so now occasionally they had others to help out with caring for everyone. Today however, it was just the two of them, though a few of the older children helped to keep an eye out for the younger lot.

 

At the current moment, Ace was inside making the huge amount of lunch that the children would consume, and Kurasame was watching over the children to make sure that they didn't get up to too much mischief. Relaxing back into the swing seat, Kurasame was startled at the sound of something crashing inside followed by a loud thump. The sudden silence that followed scared Kurasame, and he called out to Ace to ask what had happened.

 

“Ace? Is everything ok in there, or do you need me to come help?”

 

Silence was the only thing that answered Kurasame and he became even more worried. It was not like Ace to ignore him. Calling out the the eldest child and letting them know that he was going to go inside to investigate the noises, Kurasame all but ran into the kitchen.

 

The sight before him froze his heart in his chest. Ace lay upon the ground with the shattered remains of a baking dish scattered around him. There were cuts on his arms, hands and face as well as a nasty looking bruise upon Ace's forehead. By the small stain of blood on the edge of the counter, it looked like Ace had likely hit his head as he had somehow fallen and managed to knock himself out.

 

Picking his way carefully over towards his lover, Kurasame was relieved to see that Ace already seemed to be lying in the recovery position and breathing steadily. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Kurasame quickly called an ambulance and one of Ace's siblings to come over to watch the children. There was no way that Kurasame wasn't going to go to the hospital with Ace. He might love his children with all of his heart, but Ace was his life.

 

The ambulance and help arrived at the same time, tires crunching on the gravel as the pulled to a stop. The sounds of voices calling out to him, roused Kurasame from the stupor that he had fallen into as he carefully held Ace's hand.

 

The paramedics ended up following Queen into the kitchen and soon got to work clearing away the mess. They ended up placing a neck brace on Ace as a precaution, and gently lifted him onto the stretcher they had wheeled in. Queen offered Kurasame a quick squeeze, telling him to go, and that she would deal with lunch and explaining what had happened to the children. Kurasame numbly nodded at her words, shock settling into his bones as he finally could let go now that others were here to help.

 

A quick yell from Queen, alerted the paramedics that Kurasame was on the verge of collapse and one quickly rushed over to catch the swaying man.

 

“Ok buddy, I need you to take some deep breaths for me ok?” Kurasame nodded weakly. “Yeah that's it, that's good. In and out. Slowly, just like that.”

 

Kurasame took deep breaths, following the instructions he was being given. A firm hand was helping to guide him towards the back of the ambulance when he finally became aware again, and he was soon being laid out on the second stretcher in the back of the ambulance. Before the doors closed, Kurasame managed to smile wanly at the cluster of worried children staring towards them.

 

The ambulance took off, and carefully left with it's passengers.

 

“Queen?” One little girl questioned. “Where are Ace and Kurasame going? Are they ok?”

 

“Ace and Kurasame are going to the hospital darling. Ace fell down and hurt himself when he was making lunch, and Kurasame went with him to make sure he was ok.”

 

“But Kurasame didn't look good either.” Another older girl pointed out. “And they loaded him in the back too instead of just letting him sit.”

 

“He's ok sweetie,” Queen reassured. “Kurasame just was in a little bit of shock and felt a bit dizzy so they got him to lie down. But he will be absolutely fine, I promise.”

 

“And Ace?” The children asked. Queen hesitated a little.

 

“Ace might take a little bit longer to get better, but he will ok? We will go visit him later if he is up for some visitors ok?”

 

Most of the children nodded happily at this, but there was one little boy who looked desolate.

 

“Is....is it our fault that Ace got hurt?” He all but whispered.

 

Queen was shocked that he would think such a thing. From her understanding, none of the children had even been inside at the time of the accident.

 

“Of course not honey, why would you think that?”

 

“Because.....cos Ace was making us food when it happened. So if we weren't here he would be in the kitchen and he wouldn't have hurt himself.” Tears streamed down the little boy's face.

 

“Oh honey,” Queen knelt down and embraced the sobbing child. “It was no one's fault at all. It was an accident and it could have happened to anyone at anytime. No one is to blame ok? Least of all you guys. You know Ace would feel terrible if he knew that you were thinking like that.”

 

After their talk, the children all wanted to go inside to wait for lunch. Queen made sure that no one entered the kitchen to help until she had swept up the broken shards, and cleaned up and evidence of blood from both the floors and the counter. When that was done, it seemed as though all the children had decided to stick close together and they all came in to help. Lunch was a very subdued affair, though it was broken by the sound of a phone ringing.

 

The eldest quickly launched themselves out of their chair and ran to the phone answering it breathlessly. Their tensely held body seemed to sag in relief at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line, a relieved smile breaking out on their face. They chatted for a few minutes more, aware that every eye in the house was currently hanging on every word they said. As they hung up, they turned towards the others with a cheer.

 

“Ace is ok!” The others shouted out in relief.

 

“He has a concussion so they want to keep him in overnight to observed him, but he woke up not long after they got to the hospital and started complaining about breaking his favourite dish so they are pretty sure there is nothing wrong. He has a few cuts and bruises, but nothing to worry about much there. Kurasame seemed a little embarrassed when I asked about him, but he said he is ok now and was given something sweet to help with the shock.”

 

“Did he say if we can visit?” They clamoured, excited.

 

“No, not today Kurasame said. Ace is still too tired for visitors, and if all goes well he should be coming home tomorrow anyway.”

 

The others were a bit glum to hear this, but if it meant that Ace could come home tomorrow then they would just have to deal. Queen sighed in relief to hear that nothing too bad had happened and that Ace was going to be ok.

 

After that the mood quickly improved. The children started to plan a small welcome home feast for Ace, and Queen quickly called in reinforcements to help with the planning and curb some of the wilder ideas a few of the children wanted to do. She sent off a quick text to Kurasame letting him know what the kids had planned, and the sweat drop emoji she received in return, made her laugh.

 

 

Kurasame sighed in exasperation after he received that information regarding the party the children had planned, but he wasn't too worried. Ace would enjoy the effort that they children had put in, and if it helped them to take their minds off their missing caretakers, that was good enough for Kurasame.

 

Sitting beside the dozing Ace, Kurasame reached out to hold onto his un-bandaged hand. They were lucky that they had such good friends and family that they could rely on. Just as they were lucky that Ace had escaped with only minor injuries and a concussion. Kurasame had been told that if Ace had hit his head just a few centimetres to the left, there was a good possibility that the potential outcome could have been a lot worse.

 

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Kurasame couldn't wait to see the look on Ace's face when he got bombarded with a party on his return. He really should ask someone to film the moment too....

 

 


	21. Harsh Climate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a pretty bad day yesterday, so this is probably not very good. So apologies in advance.

 

The cadets cursed the higher ups as they trudged through the ice and snow towards their mission target.

 

They had only been told that the location would be cold, so at least they were all wearing their winter uniforms, but in reality a few extra layers would have been helpful too. Like scarves, heavy jackets and waterproof boots. Their feet were all soaked from sinking through the snow, and the moisture was starting to freeze their skin.

 

To top it all off they were also unable to safely take shelter amongst the trees as Sasquatch lurked within them and although they could probably take one down, the rewards did not outweigh the effort and risk to try to do so.

 

So they keep going, looking forward to finding the town that they were supposed to located their informant and hopefully be able to get out of this terrible weather. A sudden excited shout from the front drew all of their attention, and they all looked forwards where Cinque was pointing to what appeared to be smoke in the distance.

 

“We found it! We found it! Hooray now we can get out of the cold!” She cheered.

 

“Hold up Cinque,” Queen broke in. “We still need to get there and complete our mission first.”

 

Cinque's mood fell suddenly, and Queen felt bad about it a little and tried to make it up to her by congratulation her on finding the town first. Mollified, Cinque started rushing all of the tired cadets onwards.

 

It took them another hour before they finally made it to the gates of the town, but with it being enemy territory they couldn't just walk straight through the front. They had to spend extra time trying to find the seldom used maintenance gate that they had been informed of. Relief spread through them all as they found the gate and made it through with no problems. A few of the more pessimistic cadets had harboured the thought that they may have been walking into a trap, but were relieved that it did not seem that way.

 

Slinking through town, sticking to the shadows, they made their way to the little house on the outskirts of the opposite side of town. Ducking down darkened alleyways when patrols crossed their paths and creating diversions when there was no other options. They all sagged when they finally came across the door they were looking for, old wood painted in faded and peeling green paint with a symbol of the rising sun painted upon it.

 

Ace stepped forwards and knocked in the agreed upon pattern, stepping back as he heard shuffling footsteps approaching from inside. A little peep-hole slid open revealing a wrinkled and bloodshot eye looking out at them.

 

“Archimedes?” Ace questioned.

 

“Yer....who's askin'?” Grunted the voice from inside.

 

“You contacted us regarding information that you had for us?”

 

“Proof?”

 

Ace held up the letter that had been sent with them as proof, and hoped that it would be good enough for the man. He really hoped that he wouldn't make them stand outside in the freezing cold for much longer, lest they all turn to ice statues.

 

The sound of the peep-hole closing almost had Nine screaming in frustration, before the sound of bolts being drawn back calmed him down. The door opened a crack, the shuffling footsteps retreating soon after. Looking at each other in confusion, the cadets assumed that they were meant to follow the other man and carefully pushed the door open further entering one after the other.

 

The warmth of the little house surrounded them immediately and they all sighed in relief. A harsh, rasping laugh drew their attention back towards the old man, their informant.

 

“Such pampered children. Not used to such a harsh climate are ye? Look at you, not a proper winter coat between the lot of ya.”

 

The cadets shuffled their feet out of embarrassment. Well it's not like they had to deal with such conditions back in Rubrum was it? How were they to know how to deal with ice and snow such as they had encountered here?

 

Another harsh laugh broke them out of their embarrassment.

 

“Ah well, not like I asked you here to berate your choice of clothing. You're here to find out where the Magitek facility is located ain't ya?”

 

“Of course. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated.” Queen responded formally.

 

“Ha! Now don't think I'm just going to give you that information for free girl, you do me a favour and I will tell you just where to find those stinkin' bastards that are fouling up the country.”

 

“Of course. Though if I may enquire, you seem to be awfully quick to turn on your empire?” Queen asked suspiciously.

 

“Do you know what this empire used to be like before that damn Cid came and took over? No, of course you don't. Land used to be beautiful, greenery as far as the eye could see and crops to feed everyone. Cid came along and suddenly the military is sucking up all of our resources. And slowly the land started dying, our crystal too. So I want that bastard to pay, want our empire to be what it used to be if it's not too late for us.”

 

The cadets looked shocked, they had never heard of this, Queen made a mental note to search for any information on this when they returned to Akademeia.

 

“As for what I want you to do,” the old man continued, “there is a big old Sasquatch terrorising the town over to the north. If you could eliminate the threat that it poses so our supply lines can once again run smoothly, then the information is all yours.”

 

The cadets all turned towards each other in dismay. This meant that they would have to make it back out of town, locate and eliminate the beast, get backing into town again and do it all undetected. Also they would be back out in the bitter cold again. But they had no choice and reluctantly accepted the old man's request as well as his offer of a hot drink.

 


	22. Friendly FIre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follows on from Harsh Climate

 

Having worked out what they would and wouldn't need on their mission to eliminate the Sasquatch, the cadets thankfully left their extra equipment with the old man. The warmth of both the house and hot drinks had done a lot to revive the tired cadets, plus the fact that their socks were well on the way to being dry improved their spirits greatly.

 

Thanking the old man and promising to return as soon as possible, the cadets carefully observed the street and when they found it was empty, they all quickly let themselves out of the house, melting back into the shadows. Once again avoiding townspeople and patrols alike, they finally made their way back to the maintenance gate and exited the town.

 

Pulling a compass out of his pocket, and receiving a few odd looks from his comrades, Trey pointed them towards the correct direction and started to lead the way. A sharp tug on his cape stopped him in his tracks however, Nine giving him an incredulous look.

 

“You tryin' to get killed yo?” Nine demanded.

 

“Er, no I assure you I am not.” Trey responded confused.

 

“Then stick to the middle or back of the group like a good ranged fighter, idiot!” Nine all but yelled.

 

Abashed for making such an obvious mistake, Trey tilted his head in acquiescence and moved further back, letting the melee fighters of their group take point. Ace walked up beside him, and patted his arm in support. They were all tired and the cold was once again setting in, so it was not surprising that mistakes were going to be made.

 

Even though they were walking at quite a brisk pace, everyone could feel their muscles beginning to tighten up. They tried to shake out their limbs frequently, and the few short fights with the local monsters and wildlife helped, but they were just not used to this climate and it was starting to take a real toll on them all. A few swings and shots started to go astray, but luckily no one was injured beyond what a cure could fix.

 

They finally made it to the north of town, and now they had to search for the Sasquatch that was terrorising the people using the supply route. It took them longer than they had expected to find the beast, and it was only the roar and yells of dismay that finally let them locate it.

 

Rushing towards the sounds of fighting, the cadets burst into a small clearing amongst the stand of trees about half a kilometre away from the town. It was clear to see that the poor traders who had stumbled across the beast were not equipped to deal with such a ferocious foe. From what the cadets could see, they would be able to deal with the normal day to day monsters, but this was beyond their capabilities.

 

With a loud battle cry the melee fighters of the cadets rushed forwards to save the traders. The ranged cadets cast buffs over the others then rushed to help the traders escape from the beast. A few of the ranged kept an eye on the battle, casting new buffs or cures as needed as the rest helped to righten the goods trailer and cure the traders.

 

On the traders end, they were surprised to be helped by the so called 'Red Devils'. The stories that they had heard seemed to indicate that they would more likely to attack, kill and steal from them than help them. But the evidence spoke for itself, and they could only be thankful. Once they were safely out of the area, the last of the ranged cadets turned to help out with the Sasquatch. With all of them now focusing their attention on it, the beast did not last much longer.

 

With a final yell of anger the beast fell, shaking the ground with tremors as it landed. Tired and relieved that the fight was finally over, they all shared a smile and turned to head back towards town.

 

The fight had all warmed them up thankfully, but as they walked, chills quickly settled back into their bones and caused them to start shivering again. They were almost back to town, the walls in sight, when they were ambushed. There were so many ice bombs floating above the other enemies, threatening to explode at any time.

 

Due to their location, they were unfortunately packed very tightly together unable to spread out and find enough space for unhindered fighting. Ace somehow found himself in the middle of the fight, his blizzard boms completely ineffective against the ice bombs, and frantically throwing his cards as fast as he could. The feel of icy breath on his neck caused him to turn, just as a shout echoed from further back.

 

A single card took care of the bomb, it disintegrated into the air, but the arrow that had been aimed to protect Ace instead passed right through the after-image and straight into Ace's chest. Thrown backwards by the force, Ace gasped at the pain. Panicked yells could faintly be heard, though everything sounded as though his head were beneath water.

 

Hair filled his vision as one of the girls fell to her knees beside his downed body. He screamed as the arrow was grabbed and pulled as gently as possible from his chest, cure magic following quickly afterwards. A yell, startled Ace and he groaned in pain at the movement.

 

“Trey get your arse back where you were and finish this damn fight! Sooner we finish this, the sooner we can take care of Ace! Now MOVE!” King's voice commanded sternly, and Trey moved back to his place.

 

With their new incentive, the fight ended soon afterwards and they all rushed over to the duo in the snow. The sight of Ace covered in blood and the red snow surrounding him distressed them all, but a quick reassurance from Deuce quickly calmed them. Looking down at his fallen brother, Nine gave into his anger and turned on Trey.

 

“What the hell yo? Why'd you hit Ace!” Nine grabbed Trey's mantle in his fist wanting to shake the shocked archer. Queen rushed over to try to pull him away.

 

“Stop that Nine!” She yelled, tugging at his fist. “It was an accident, he had fired his arrow before Ace turned and killed the bomb! There is no way to recall and arrow, and there was no time to call out either. So stop being an idiot and let him go!”

 

With a grunt of disgust, Nine let Trey go. He knew very well that it hadn't really been the other boys' fault, but he was angry and worried that this had happened and he needed to vent. Nine stormed off to the edge of the group and started a restless pacing, waiting for an update on Ace. A ripple of relief went through the group as Ace finally opened tired and groggy eyes.

 

Deuce laid a gentle hand upon his shoulder telling him that even though she had healed him, he wasn't allowed to strain himself. Completely mortified, Ace had to subject himself to being picked up bridal style by Nine. King was going to, until Nine had barrelled his way over and scooped up the younger boy ignoring his protests.

 

They quickly and carefully made their way back to the old man's house, thankfully not running into any trouble along the way. Upon knocking on the door again and entering, they found a place to lay the now dozing Ace. Deuce made her way back over to him to continue healing him now that some of her mana had replenished. Seven also came over and gently dabbed at the wound with a Hi-Potion helping the healing.

 

The cadets all had a restless night, no one wanting to go to sleep just in case something happened to Ace even though they knew that he was well on his way to recovery. Trey and Nine were the worse, both hovering next to Ace while glaring at each other, the tension between them thick. When Ace awoke the next morning, he was feeling almost brand new. The combination of rest, cure magic and potions had worked a miracle. Though the tiredness from blood loss would persist for a few days, he felt fine otherwise.

 

Seeing the two boys hovering over him glaring at each other, Ace asked what they were doing startling them both.

 

“He shot you!” Nine grumbled like it was obvious.

 

“Nine is determined to not let me close to you without supervision.” Trey stated quietly.

 

Ace sighed deeply before moving to smack Nine on the back of the head. Nine yelped and looked down at Ace as though he had betrayed him.

 

“Nine, thank you for worrying so much about me but it wasn't Trey's fault. So stop being an ass.”

 

“Trey thank you for keeping an eye on me, but I don't blame you. You have my forgiveness if that is what you want, but for me there is nothing to forgive.”

 

Both boys looked down at Ace's words, neither being able to meet his eyes.

 

“Come on you two idiots,” Ace said fondly. “I don't know about you guys, but I'm more than ready to get out of this cold and go home!”

 

Thanking the old man, and tucking the information securely into a pouch, the cadets finally headed home.

 


	23. Self Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continues on from Drugged.

 

“And just who in the nine hells are you? Get out, this is no place for a cadet!”

 

“My name is Cadet Ace, and I am here to inform you that unfortunately Commander Kurasame is currently indisposed and that I will be taking his place today as Unit Commander.”

 

“You! You're just a cadet! I can't believe that coward would send a replacement in his stead, and a useless cadet at that!”

 

Ace turned towards the speaker and glared his fury at him.

 

“As I said before, the Commander is indisposed not running away from his responsibilities, and yes I may be a cadet but I can assure you that I am more than up to the task.” The old man who had spoken out looked taken aback at this fierce defence of a man who frankly, no one in the higher ups thought much of.

 

“Ace...”

 

The quiet voice of his 'Mother' drew Ace's attention towards her. The look she gave him was full of questions and sadness, she knew that nothing she said could sway him from his decision. Ace stared back at her steadily, he knew what he was doing – there was no turning back from here. With a quiet, sad sigh, Arecia spoke up on behalf of Ace.

 

“Your arguments are all invalid and in vain. I can assure you that this cadet can surely match the spiritual power that is needed for the summoning and is more than capable of taking the place of the Commander.” Her hard stare made the others in the room shift nervously.

 

“Unless of course this is less about losing a Commander able to help win this battle and more about punishing certain individuals for crimes not their own?”

 

Not a single person would meet her eyes after her softly spoken accusation. With a sneer of contempt, she turned to the Chancellor who had been watching the drama unfold before him.

 

“Chancellor?”

 

He flinched in his seat slightly. Although he had not felt that Kurasame had deserved the punishment laid out by the others, he had not stopped them from enforcing it either, and in the end someone had to be held responsible for the fallout of Class Zero's last mission. To him, the loss of one Commander was far better than to lose the entire Class Zero to expulsion, and from the knowing look on Kurasame's face, he had obviously felt the same.

 

But now, to have one of those very cadets offering himself to take his place..... The Chancellor may be old, but that did not mean that he wasn't aware of the happenings around Akademeia. He knew that this cadet was in a relationship with his Commander, no matter how frowned upon that may be, and he also knew that this same cadet had somehow gotten a hold of a drug to knock someone out for an extended period.

 

“Cadet,” He turned to look at Ace, tired eyes taking in the determined stance that the boy took.

 

“I know what you have done this day,” Ace suddenly looked terrified. “And though I do not approve of your actions, I can understand them. You will hear no argument from me if you wish to take your Commander's place on the field this day.”

 

Ace sagged in relief, his plan had worked.

 

“Thank you Chancellor. I will not let Rubrum down.” With a quick salute, Ace exited the room and headed towards the classroom where the rest where gathered to find out their missions.

 

Striding into the class, everyone seemed to be a little worried that Kurasame had yet to arrive. Ace walked to the front and quietly informed Moglin of the change in plans, asking that he brief the others without letting them know of Ace's new mission. With a sad 'Kupo!' from Moglin, Ace turned and sat in his usual seat.

 

Moglin did as asked, merely stating that Kurasame had unfortunately already been called out the the field and was unable to deliver this information to them. At no point in time did the others realise that Ace was not once mentioned in any of the plans or sorties that they would be involved in that day.

 

It was midday before they all headed out towards the battlefield. The distant sounds of gunfire broke the stillness of the day, and the smell of ozone from all the spells being cast tainted the air. Once all of Class Zero had mounted their chocobos, they headed out to their assigned locations. Some headed North and others to the West. They were all too busy to notice that Ace broke off from them all soon after leaving Akademeia and headed North-West.

 

When each group noticed that Ace was missing, they assumed that he had joined the other group as he had not been assigned a particular group. By the time someone thought to contact the other group to ask though, it was already too late to track him down, though a feeling of dread settled in the pit of their stomachs. They all had to push this feeling aside, as there was no room for anything other than the fights ahead of them if they hoped to survive.

 

 

Ace slipped away from his fellow cadets with a silent apology and farewell and hurried towards where he was informed he was needed. Upon approaching the location, he was once again interrogated regarding his usefulness in his recently assigned position. Staring back at the doubters stonily, Ace was relieved when a delicate hand landed upon his shoulder shutting everyone up.

 

Turning towards the owner of the hand, Ace looked into the serene face of the Lady Caetuna. Calm, wise eyes regarded him silently, seeming to look deeply into his very heart and soul. For Caetuna she saw what Ace had done to get to this place and the reasons behind it. She saw the willingness to sacrifice himself to save many others, she saw his spirit shining so brightly that she knew that there would be no problems in the summoning, so she turned to the others.

 

“Be calm, there are no problems with our new young Commander. All will be well and as it should be.”

 

With Lady Caetuna's backing none of the others present could complain anymore, but it didn't stop them from shooting venomous glares Ace's way. Why, Ace could not work out. They were all going to die out here to fuel the summon, so what did it matter anyway?

 

It wasn't too much longer before the signal was given and Lady Caetuna prepared to summon the Verboten Eidolon. A few words that could have been taken as inspirational, though Ace found them more depressing, and then the tug on their bodies could be felt where they strengthened the summoning power. Time passed slowly, and one by one the summoning unit fell, bodies exhausted of spirit and life.

 

Ace stood as tall as long as he could, distantly aware the he was the last to remain standing. As his vision started to fade away, he could hear and see the terrible trembling of the surrounding area, a great stone giant rising up from the depths to punish their enemies. The summoning was a success, Ace smiled as his body crumpled and fell to the ground.

 

 

When Kurasame woke, something felt off to him. For one, it was clearly day time and quite late if he were to hazard a guess. There was also the feeling of a foreign grogginess that he normally associated with visits to Kazuza's lab. That and the complete lack of his lover caused Kurasame to leap out of bed and throw clothing on as fast as possible.

 

Just before reaching the door, Kurasame noticed a small envelope sitting on the coffee table as though waiting for him to notice it. Hesitantly he picked it up, the neat writing on the front clearly scribed by Ace's hand. Slitting open the flap, Kurasame withdrew the letter within, eyes scanning the words in disbelief and horror. The paper dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers and Kurasame bolted from the room.

 

He could still remember his lover, so that meant that he was still alive currently and he was going to try his damnedest to save him. But first he needed to go find Kazuza and punch at arsehole in the face for helping Ace drug him in the first place. The letter lay on the floor forgotten as he swept out of this rooms.

 

 

_My Dearest Kurasame,_

 

_I don't really know what to say right now, but I know that I could no sooner let you leave knowing that you would die, than I could let my siblings take the blame for a crime we never committed._

 

_I am so sorry to do this to you, and if you read this in time, I hope that you forgive me for being so selfish. I love you so much, and I want you to live even if it means that you won't be able to remember me or what we shared together._

 

_I am sorry that we can't be together anymore, and I ask that you go easy on Kazuza. He did try to warm me against this, but I know that he too would lose you if I did not._

 

_Just know that I love you, and one day if we are to meet in the afterlife, I hope that you will have forgiven me and that I can embrace you once again._

 

_With all of my love,_

_Ace._

 

 

The sound of angry footsteps broke Kazuza out of his sad reverie. It was about the time for the Eidolon to be summoned, and he could not help but feel sorrow for the boy who took his friends' place out of love. The next moment the door flew open, slamming against the wall and an enraged Kurasame stood in the opening. Swallowing thickly, Kazuza stood to face his judgement.

 

“You!” Kurasame raged, storming closer.

 

“Me.” Kazuza quietly replied. He made no move to escape the man barrelling towards him. Kurasame grabbed a handful of his coat and shook him when he got close enough.

 

“How dare you? How could you?” Kurasame all but yelled in his face.

 

“I dare because Ace asked me to. He knew what he wanted and was not willing to back down from it. If I had not provided what he requested then he would have stolen it and maybe even unknowingly overdosed you.”

 

Kurasame deflated at his words. Honestly, Kazuza had just been a cog in this plan of Ace's, and Kurasame could not blame him. He knew that the other man cared deeply for both himself and Emina, even if he showed it strangely sometimes.

 

“What....what do I do? How am I supposed to go on now?” Kurasame asked, lost.

 

“The fact that you can still remember Ace is a good sign. Go to him, save him from his fate, your fate. Bring him back here so you can have an epic fight and an even more epic make up.”

 

Kurasame stared blankly back at his friend. Save Ace? Was that even possible?

 

“Well you never know until you try do you?” Kurasame realised that he must have spoken aloud when Kazuza answered him. “But honestly Kurasame, what the hell are you still doing here? I called down earlier and they have their fastest chocobo ready and waiting for you down at the stables.”

 

Kurasame stared at his friend a moment longer before wrapping him up in a quick, thankful embrace and sprinting towards the Portal. Throwing himself into the saddle, Kurasame pushed the bird to the limit trying to make it in time to the summoning site. He had almost made it when the earth started trembling and the gigantic form of Alexander rose. Despair gripped Kurasame's heart tightly, before he realised that he could still remember Ace, and just how much he wanted to kill his lover for this stunt of his.

 

Pushing forwards again, Kurasame finally made it. The sight of hundreds of bodies strewn across the ground met his frantically searching eyes. It wasn't that he didn't care about the sacrifice that these others had made, that he himself had be prepared to make, it was just that his need to locate Ace overrode everything else.

 

There! A bright flash of light drew Kurasame's attention and after throwing himself off the chocobo, he raced on foot towards it. What he saw, left him speechless. Ace lay on the ground unmoving, but beside him lay the Lady Caetuna, hand glowing faintly. As he watched, Kurasame saw that faintly glowing light move towards Ace and sink into his skin. Caetuna's lips moved as though she were speaking, but Kurasame could not hear her words.

 

The glowing light finally disappeared, Lady Caetuna becoming encased in crystal. But what drew Kurasame's attention was the slight rise and fall of Ace's chest.

 

He....He was ALIVE!

 

Kurasame threw himself forward, holding his weakened lover in his arms. Ace's eye flickered open, looking up at the man he loved and broke into tears.

 

“She saved me, she gave me life. Said that it was not my fate to die here. She could have survived, but she saved me instead.”

 

Kurasame silently thanked the crystallised l'Cie beside him for giving him back his lover. Ace had sacrificed himself to save Kurasame and his siblings, and Caetuna had in turn reciprocated this gesture of love by sacrificing the last of her power to return him to his loved ones.

 

Kurasame could feel tears start to fall down his face, landing upon Ace's already tear stained face, to fall along with his tears to the ground beneath them. The ground that had so recently split open and wreaked havoc on their foes.

 

“If you ever do something as stupid as that again Ace, I will kill you myself got it?” If Kurasame's words were a little wet, neither of them mentioned it.

 

Tired, Ace just hummed a reply.

 

“Right back at you lover.”

 

Kurasame gathered Ace in his arms more securely, and heaved himself off of the ground to make his way back over to the tired chocobo. Gently petting the tired bird, Kurasame apologised.

 

“Sorry old bird, I know you're tired but please deliver us safely back home.” The chocobo 'kwek'd tiredly back and gamely accepted the doubled weight upon it's back.

 

It took a lot longer to make it back home, but Kurasame was not in any hurry to reunite with everyone and both be lectured on the idiocy of self sacrifice - as surely the details of the situation had been made known by now. Though he would gladly lectures regarding their stupidity over any other scenario that could have been.

 

As they passed through the gates back to Akademeia, Kurasame could see the crowd of people waiting for them at the stables. And so it begins.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't really know how to end this, so it is probably an odd place to stop.


	24. Drowning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continues from Exhaustion.

 

Cold water closed over Ace's head as he plunged through the surface, sinking quickly, limbs uncooperative and clumsy due to the icy water. Ace tried to kick back to the surface, but after a few moments where he continued to sink, a sense of finality hit him. So this is how it ends then? Drowning didn't seem like to bad a way to go, at least it was to Ace's mind. Finally letting go, Ace embraced his end, and finally peace was his to claim.

 

 

 

Kurasame and his friends were swimming back after a day hunting by the cliffs, when something fell from seemingly nowhere and almost knocked Kazuza out. Laughing at his friend's misfortune, Kurasame reached out to examine the strange black rock. I looked shiny and black, and for a moment he could have sworn that it was somehow glowing before it turned dark. Nothing that they poked or pressed made the glowing appear again, so Kurasame assumed that maybe it had just been a reflection.

 

A couple of minutes later, and with their new strange treasure tucked into one of their carry bags, Kurasame, Kazuza and Emina were once again swimming towards home. A much larger splash drew Kurasame's attention, and waving the other two onwards, he decided to go investigate what had fallen into the sea. Maybe it was another of those strange rocks?

 

However instead of another rock, Kurasame was alarmed to see a steadily sinking human in the water. It was clear to the mer that the human would have no hope of reaching the surface no matter how hard it kicked, but then the human stopped kicking altogether and started to sink rapidly. The humans' head turned, pushed by the underwater currents, and sad blue eyes met Kurasame's own widened ones.

 

He did not know this human, and in fact as all mer he was slightly wary of it, but there was something in that saddened, accepting gaze that called to him. With a hard thrust of his tail, Kurasame surged forwards catching hold of the humans' arm. Wide, startled eyes met Kurasame's own, the last of the humans' life giving air escaping in a silent gasp of shock – the bubbles flying from his mouth and heading for a surface that the human would never reach.

 

Kurasame was startled as the human started thrashing in his arms, taking a moment to understand and remember that humans could not breathe under the water. Leaning forwards and holding the flailing human as still as possible, Kurasame breathed some of his own air and magic into the human. Kurasame was worried as he saw that those captivating blue eyes had rolled back and the human went limp against him. Perhaps he had performed the ritual wrong?

 

Leaning his head down closer, Kurasame was relieved to see that the human was breathing still. Lifting the human into his arms more securely, Kurasame quickly swam to catch up with his friends and find a safe place to deposit said human. By the time Kurasame caught up with the others, they were almost at their cavernous living space. Inside there were areas so large that water did not reach the ceiling, leaving little sandy alcoves for them to lay upon. It was in one such area that Kurasame laid his living burden, going in search of the other two.

 

“Hey you caught up!” Kurasame turned at the sound of Emina's sweet voice.

 

The welcoming smile on Emina's face quickly turned to one of shock as she was what was lying in their dwelling.

 

“What....what the hell is that doing here Kurasame?” She shrieked, bringing Kazuza rushing over to find out what had upset her so much.

 

“Oh gods, it's got a weird split tail! Kurasame you are the best! Bringing me something so strange and unusual to experiment on!”

 

Kurasame gracefully dodged the embrace of his friend, sending a dry look his way.

 

“It's not a spilt tail Kazuza, they are called legs. This is a human, and it is here because I save it from drowning.”

 

“Why would you do that?” Emina asked subdued.

 

“I...I don't, don't know.” Kurasame stammered out.

 

There were a few things that Kurasame wouldn't, _couldn't_ , speak about. And the feelings he had seen reflected in the other's eyes, the echo of the bone deep sadness he sometimes felt, that he couldn't put voice to. Emina stared back at Kurasame steadily. Normally she would not pry into things that Kurasame didn't want to talk about, but this had the possibility of putting them all in danger and she needed to know why.

 

Kurasame heaved a heavy sigh of surrender.

 

“When it fell into the water, I saw it struggle trying to get back to the surface – to live. But after a moment it seemed as though a wave of hopelessness passed over it, and....it just stopped. Let itself sink.”

 

Kazuza and Emina listened silently to their companion. They knew that Kurasame struggled with a bone crushing depression sometimes. Knew that he felt as though he were drowning in a sea filled with unfulfilled wants and needs, emotions never given free reign. It surprised them a little that Kurasame seemed to feel such a connection with this human.

 

“It sank past me, and as it did our eyes connected. It seemed so sad, and resigned. It was almost as though this is what it had expected or even wanted deep down in the darkest parts of it's mind. I couldn't let it drown, I had to save it.”

 

Sighing heavily, Emina touched Kurasame's shoulder lightly.

 

“Then we leave it in your care Kurasame. But please forgive me if I make myself scarce around it.”

 

Kazuza of course tried to bargain with Kurasame to let him take a quick peek at the human while it was sleeping, but a quick glare soon sent him scampering off.

 

Kurasame laid on his stomach beside the human, tail flicking idly through the water, and watched at the human slept. Kurasame isn't sure how much time passed before he became aware of the humans' eyelids beginning to flutter. He watched as they finally opened, once again revealing beautiful blue eyes that seemed to be first filled with confusion upon finding himself very much alive still, then flooding with sadness at the knowledge.

 

Unable to bear the look of sadness, Kurasame reached out a hand and lightly cupped the humans' cheek.

 

Ace turned his head into the gentle touch, filled with more kindness than he had felt in years, eyes closing almost involuntarily. When the hand withdrew, Ace slowly opened his eye again and found himself looking into those impossibly deep blue eyes that he thought he had seen as he lost conciousness. Ace drew back slightly to take a better look at this person who had saved him, after all if such a person could find something in him worth saving then maybe being alive still would not be such a terrible thing.

 

Those mesmerising blue eyes were framed by...wet?...blue locks and a very handsome face. Straight nose with a little upwards tilt above pink lips that just screamed to be kissed. Flushing slightly, Ace tore his eyes from the others' lips and continued his perusal. The man wasn't wearing a shirt, not surprising if he had jumped into the water to save Ace, and he had a lean muscular body. Though he did have a few oddly shiny patches on some parts of his skin. Dried sand perhaps?

 

Once his eyes ventured further however, Ace's mind stumbled to a halt. Was.....was that a tail? An impossibly beautiful tail ranging in shades of blues, purples and greens, but a tail none the less. Was this guy for real? Ace drew his eyes back up to meet the other mans', a million questions in his eyes and trying to trip off of his tongue.

 

The little smile that the other was giving him caused him to fall silent, before ever even opening his mouth. Was that smile for him? Ace? Ace took a furtive look around to see if it were perhaps aimed at someone else, but they were alone in this little sandy alcove.

 

“I am glad that you have awoke human friend. My name is Kurasame.” Kurasame's voice was deep and smooth and Ace could fall into it and wrap himself in the warmth.

 

“Er, hello Kurasame. I'm...my name is Ace and umm....what....what are you? I mean I can see you aren't human like me..?” Ace's voice trailed off terrified that he had offended this beautiful being.

 

He need not have worried though as Kurasame coughed out a discrete laugh.

 

“It is a pleasure to meet you Ace. As you can see I am a mer.”

 

Ace nodded, disbelief clouding his mind. He was actually dead wasn't he? There was no way that mers existed and that he had been saved by one.

 

“I er....” Kurasame started hesitantly. “I am not sure on human anatomy...so I am not sure if you would prefer to be attended to by a female?”

 

Ace stared back in incomprehension for several moments before he flushed a deep red, causing Kurasame to flinch back in alarm.

 

“Oh gods, I am terribly sorry! I did not mean to cause offence!” Kurasame flailed around slightly trying to fix the situation.

 

“No, no it's ok.” Ace mumbled from behind his hand. “I'm a male, so this is ok I guess?”

 

“If you are sure” Kurasame responded hesitantly, as though not believing the other. Ace just nodded again, too embarrassed to continue talking.

 

“Do you mind if we talk and get to know each other for a little while? Or would you rather eat?” Kurasame asked Ace. Tempted by both options, Ace suggested that they do both at the same time, causing a smile to break out on Kurasame's features.

 

Kazuza chose that moment to arrive with food, startling Ace enough that he threw himself backwards and fell over causing Kurasame to laugh. Smiling fondly at seeing his old friend so carefree, Kazuza left the food with them and let them get to know one another.

 

The two strangers spent the next few hours talking, nothing too deep as neither felt comfortable revealing too much at this point, but their hearts cried out for that connection that they had forged in that fleeting moment before Ace had fallen unconscious before.

 

Slowly but surely, they grew closer. Many months had passed, though to Kurasame and Ace it felt as though hardly any time had passed at all. Being together just felt so right, so natural, and neither could remember a time when they had been apart.

 

Kurasame had revealed that he had given Ace the ability to breathe beneath the water, though he still struggled to really move with any speed, and they could frequently be seen exploring the nearby reefs together – more often than not, Kurasame would be tugging Ace in his wake as the other laughed.

 

To Emina and Kazuza, seeing the two interact was a miracle. It was like they had the old Kurasame back, back before life had dragged him down and left him to dry out in the harsh sun. He laughed and joked like he used to, interacted with them more frequently, and his bad days seemed to come less often. They could only be thankful for the strange little human that had fallen into their lives.

 

Ace too felt that he had a new lease on life. For once he had people that cared for him, he'd even go so far as to call them friends. Kurasame listened to him, and understood him; had been through some of the same circumstances as Ace. Kurasame held him when he was down, listened when he needed someone, gave him space when he needed it, and pushed him when Ace was being stupidly stubborn. He was perfect and Ace was slowly falling for him, and Ace could only wish that he could stay here forever.

 

Kurasame had been quick to notice the change in Ace's mood and asked him the cause, not wanting Ace to feel down. Ace turned towards Kurasame with a sad look upon his face.

 

“I have fallen in love with you Kurasame.” Ace said softly.

 

Kurasame felt his heart leap with joy. He had not been certain that his affections were returned, but he was ecstatic to learn that they were. He could not help but wonder why Ace looked so sad though. A sudden thought brought him crashing back to the depths of the sea.

 

“Is that not something you wanted?” He asked sadly. Ace smiled gently back at him.

 

“No of course it is something I want.” Kurasame's heart leapt again. “But you are a mer, and I am human. I can not stay down here forever.”

 

Kurasame reached out a hand and wiped away the tears that fell from Ace's eyes.

 

“And why not? If you wish it I would give you the world. I can live with you on the land if you want or I can change you and you can become like us if you would prefer.”

 

Ace stared back at Kurasame in shock.

 

“W..what?” He managed to choke out. “What do you mean? Turn human? Turn me mer? Kurasame?”

 

Kurasame laughed at Ace's confusion.

 

“Ace love,” Ace flushed prettily at the endearment. “Did you not know? We mer are made of magic. Nothing is beyond us if only we want it badly enough. So what do you say? Stay or go?”

 

“Stay. I want to stay here with you. There is nothing up there for me anymore, there never really has been. Down here with you and everyone here......this is the happiest that I have ever been. I never want to leave here.”

 

“Then let us seal this with a kiss shall we?” Kurasame leant forwards to gently seal their mouths together.

 

A whispered 'brace yourself' Ace's only warning before magic flooded his body. Kurasame held Ace to him firmly, lips still pressed against his own, as Ace writhed as his body changed. Thin pale legs seemingly twisted and sealed together, scales the colour of sunsets sprouting out and covering the sensitive new appendage. Tiny fins appeared on the backs of Ace's wrists, and scales now dotted his shoulders and back.

 

Ace fell limp as the transformation magic left his body, Kurasame holding him tightly still. Kicking out his legs, Ace felt the strange movement of his new tail instead and nearly sent himself toppling over trying to get a better look at it. Kurasame laughed as he help right Ace, looking down at him with love filled eyes.

 

“No regrets?” Kurasame murmured into Ace's hair.

 

“Not a single one.” Ace replied steadfastly.

 

He looked back up into those deep blue eyes, and for once neither contained a hint of sadness within them. Yes, this is where he was supposed to be. Ace had found his home, and his freedom.

 


	25. Restraints

 

Tears streamed from Ace's eyes as they hauled Kurasame's limp body towards the lined, silver cuffs chained to the wall deep underground. He knew that it was the only option right now, Kurasame himself had consented to be imprisoned down here, but still Ace's heart cried out for the man.

 

Ace knew that it was his fault that Kurasame was like this, knew that the other man had gladly sacrificed himself, but the guilt ate away at him each time he saw the consequences. There had been a mission, ridiculously easy by normal standards but made more dangerous due to the time of the month and time that it was to be carried out.

 

Everyone knew the risks, they were not stupid, each cadet carried silver tipped arrows and knives or blessed weapons. Ace's cards were not able to be silver edged however, as the added weight would make them impossible to throw. It was as though the beasts knew this, and they focused on attacking him first.

 

At first the others with him had been able to draw some of the attention away from him by angering the beasts by injuring them, but eventually Ace found himself cornered by three huge wolves. Throwing his cards at them in quick succession, Ace managed to withdraw the small silver knife hidden on his belt.

 

One beast was down, howling as a ball of fire burnt through it's shaggy coat and another took the opportunity to lunge at Ace. Meeting the huge wolf head on would be nothing less than suicide, so Ace ducked under the leap and plunged the knife into the wolf's soft belly, tearing through muscle and sinew. During this manoeuvring though, Ace had lost track of the third wolf and only a terrified shout of his name alerted him to the fact that the wolf had circled behind him and was preparing to attack.

 

Ace knew that there was no way for him to escape, the bloodied wolf before him to large for him to be able to pass to avoid the attack, and his hands were too slick from blood to gather together his cards. Resignedly Ace closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable as a harsh growl tore through the wolf's throat as it lunged.

 

The pain Ace was expecting however, never came. Instead the harsh tearing sound and steel passing through flesh, combined with the pained yelp of the wolf alerted Ace to someone else's arrival. Opening his eyes, Ace saw the shocking view of his Commander standing tall before him. Long icy blade thrust through the body of the wolf, bloody running down his arms from his mauled left arm that he had used to push back the beast.

 

Choking back his cry of alarm, Ace quickly raced over and tried to cast cure on the injuries. Cure after cure he cast, and yet nothing happened. A gloved hand stopped his own as he raised it once again to try another cast, and Ace turned tear bright eyes upwards and looked into steady blue eyes.

Both knew what it meant if the wounds would not heal via magic, but while Ace refused to acknowledge this, Kurasame had already accepted the outcome.

 

The rest of the mission was abandoned as they rushed back to Akademeia to seek medical attention, though at the sight of the wounds several nurses shrieked and refused to treat Kurasame. The head doctor decided that he would be placed in isolation, and injected with small doses of silver to hopefully kill off the virus before it spread too far.

 

Ace visited frequently, though the screams of the other man in the bed haunted his every thought. It pained Ace to see the other strapped tightly to the bed as the silver was injected into his veins, could see it moving sluggishly throughout his body burning him from the inside out. He comforted Kurasame as much as he could, pushing sweaty hair out of his glazed eyes, and speaking quietly – telling Kurasame that the doctor's were quite optimistic that the treatment was working.

 

It was only when the first full moon occurred after the attack that they realised that they had been wrong. The treatment had done nothing to help, had in fact enraged the newly turned wolf into a frenzy of _hurt, pain, kill_.

 

The huge indigo wolf tore through the restraints as though they were cloth, snarling and growling in agitation. A nurse coming to see what the commotion was, was lucky enough to slam the door and ward it before the wolf could break free. Yelling for back up, the nurse could only be thankful that the isolation rooms had no windows that the wolf could escape from.

 

It didn't take long for some of their strongest cadets to arrive to help reinforce the warding on the door, and to strengthen it also. The wards would be nigh on useless if the door itself were to break. All night howls echoed through the medical wing, the sounds of claws and teeth tearing through bedding and furniture alike terrifying those stationed to stand guard. It was only as the sun started to rise that the noises finally ceased, and a heavy thump sounded from within the room.

 

By this time, Ace's class had been rotated to watch over the room, and they very warily lowered the wards. Ace slowly and carefully opened the door, ready to slam it shut or defend himself at a moment's notice if needed, but the sight of his Commander passed out in the destroyed room had him quickly entering without care.

 

The others cried out in alarm, following Ace into the room, but they too were shocked at the carnage left behind in the wake of the full moon. Ace leant over the fallen man, trying to check if he were still alive, and was not ready for the other to swipe out at him with slightly clawed hands. Jumping back in alarm, Ace winced as one of Kurasame's nails nicked the skin of his wrist, just above the line of his gloves. Ace's yelp drew the attention of the others, but more importantly brought Kurasame back to himself.

 

As awareness began to flood back into Kurasame's conscious, he realised just where he was and what he had done. Shame filled him as he took stock of the destroyed room, and noticed Ace crouched beside him clutching at his wrist, an odd look on his face. Reaching out towards the cadet, Kurasame asked if he was ok, voice gravelly after a night of howling and snarling. Smiling gently, Ace stated that he was fine, and it was more just the surprise that had gotten to him than anything else.

 

It was only later that the other Commanders and doctor's descended upon Kurasame en mass that the hard decision to keep him locked up and restrained came to pass. At least until they could find a cure, or a way to suppress the wolf anyway. Kurasame held great faith in Kazuza's ability to work his hardest to find a cure, but he was not convinced that this was something that could be fixed.

 

With great relish, the Commandant deemed Kurasame unfit for further duty and stripped him of his command, at least until further notice. The sneer in his voice and his look of disdain, showed the likelihood of his command being returned to him was nearly negligent. He then went on to inform Kurasame that he would be taken down to the underground caverns beneath the Crystarium and chained there by silver cuffs to prevent him from escaping. It was theorised that being further from the moon would lessen it's effects.

 

The Commandant then ordered Class Zero to escort them down there, and instead of allowing Kurasame to walk now that he had control over himself, he cruelly thrust a syringe full of sedative into his arm and watched as he felt limply to the ground.

 

Absolute disgust painted the faces of many of the witnesses, but none dared to go against such a powerful and malicious man. King and Nine as two of the strongest, stepped forwards and gently grabbed a hold of Kurasame's arms, supporting his weight as best they could. They all followed the Commandant down a locked corridor, and down a winding staircase. Arriving at the bottom, they had to wait as torches were lit dispelling the darkness.

 

In the far corner of the cavernous room a barred cell sat, gleaming silver cuffs hanging from the wall. On the ground were stains of a suspicious nature, but none wanted to look to closely lest they take their commander and flee this place. No matter how much they all wanted to do this, it had been Kurasame's decision to be held down here, and they would honour that even if it were not what they wanted.

 

The clink of the cuffs locking sounded like a death sentence, the finality of the sound shocking. Though they wanted to linger and wait for Kurasame to regain conciousness, the Commandant dismissed them and banned them from entering again. Disheartened, the cadets trailed out of the room sadly, a feeling like they may never have the chance to see their Commander again. Ok yes, the man was an annoying hard-ass, but he didn't deserve this fate.

 

Over the next few weeks, the pained yells of their Commander seemed to fill the air. No matter where they were they could hear him crying out in pain and it angered them. Ace especially seemed to grow angrier and angrier the longer it went on. If his classmates noticed his unusual touchiness, then none of them mentioned it.

 

It was the night of the second full moon since Kurasame had been attacked. His howls had filled the night earlier, but had soon been silenced. Trembling with rage, Ace stormed out of his room alarming his bunkmate who alerted the others. With a seemingly unnatural strength Ace tore the locked door from it's hinges and raced down the stairs, something calling out to him.

 

Without lighting the torches, Ace made his way unerringly towards the cell in the back, whimpering as he saw the sight before him. Kurasame hung from the silver cuffs, hind legs scrambling to support a wolf's form. The cruel positioning of the restraints meant that there was no possible way for him to stand easily in wolf form, and Ace could not help but wonder if that was deliberate. Ace could smell blood in the air, could see it seeping from wounds all over the blue wolf and his eyes flashed yellow – there and gone in an instant.

 

A matching set of yellow eyes watched him tiredly from the cell. Ace turned and searched the desk until he found the keys for the cell. Sloppy of them to have left them down here and not taken them away, but he wouldn't complain. Inserting the key into the lock, Ace quickly entered the cell and started to open the cuffs. The smell of burning flesh drew the blue wolf's attention, and he turned his head startled.

 

The skin of Ace's hand burned as he handled the silver cuffs, but the pain did not deter him. His hands were raw and bloodied by the time both cuffs fell, Kurasame falling to all fours gratefully. Kurasame nudged gently at Ace's hands, but Ace just waved him off stating that they needed to get out of there before someone came to investigate the crash the door had made as he tore it open.

 

Hurrying back up the stairs, Ace and Kurasame were dismayed to see people already waiting for them. Preparing to attack, Ace recognised his classmates and hesitated. Holding their hands out as a sign of peace, Cater said they wouldn't stop the two from escaping before throwing herself at Ace and holding him tightly. Tears fell from her eyes as she sobbed that she would miss him, the others soon coming one by one to embrace him and say their farewells.

 

A little teary himself, Ace placed a hand upon Kurasame's head and waved as they exited the gates. Once they were free of Akademeia, a howl tore through Ace's throat and he started to change. Bones broke and shifted, fur sprouting all over him, eyes turning an eerie yellow. Ace fell to his four paws, disorientated. He stumbled around slightly as he tried to find his balance, and the sound of wolfish laughter drew his attention.

 

Kurasame sat watching Ace as he tried to gather all of his legs under him. He couldn't help but feel both amused at the sight, and grateful that no one had witnessed him being so ungainly. Ace seemed to had finally managed to coordinate all of his legs at once, and came over to head-but his sire. Huffing out another laugh, Kurasame nuzzled gently at Ace's face, licking his muzzle in affection. Nuzzling up underneath Kurasame's chin, Ace settled finally settled down.

 

They sat together, both watching the moon who would now be their new mistress. They would be beholden to her and no other. With a howl of both greeting and farewell, the huge blue wolf and the slighter blonde wolf trotted off into the forest, neither looking back once.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can either read that as Ace and Kurasame being a couple, or more of a sire/child relationship.


	26. Broken Ribs

 

The sound of weapons clashing was as loud as a thunderclap, eerie light flooding the abandoned farmhouse and surrounds where two combatants faced off.

 

“Stop, please you don't have to do this Kurasame!”

 

Kurasame scoffed harshly at those words. Once icy blue eyes now demon yellow ringed in flaming red and full of scorn for the angelic being he was fighting.

 

“There is no stopping Ace, I will have my revenge.”

 

His fist flew out striking Ace in the chest, breaking his ribs and leaving the other breathless and panting beneath him. Rising his foot to stomp down, Ace rolled away with a drawn out moan of pain. Lifting a glowing hand to his chest, Ace sent healing magic racing through his body to fix his injuries.

 

Standing across from the angel before him, Kurasame studied this man that he had once called lover until their paths had diverged cruelly. Ace's softly glowing blonde hair was caked in dirt and blood, his clothes dishevelled and torn. His blue eyes were determined, but Kurasame could see the sadness lurking behind his steadfastness even as his hands held his weapon steadily.

 

Ace's cards glowed faintly with holy light, each cut upon Kurasame's body burned, flesh smoking as the blessed weapon came into contact with his tainted body. Kurasame's blade glowed with a sinister purple glow, seemingly sucking the light out of the area surrounding it. Had it touched the angel it would have sucked the very light and life out of him. Although both fought fiercely, neither could bring themselves to truly hurt the other.

 

“You would take your revenge above all else then? Do you even remember what you are fighting for?” Ace asked sadly, sidestepping a vicious slash of Kurasame's blade.

 

“Yes!” Kurasame hissed. “There is nothing worth as much to me as my revenge. I must avenge my lover, who they took from me!”

 

“They took no one from you Kurasame! Open your eyes and see what is in front of you!” Ace cried out.

 

“No!”

 

With a roar of fury, Kurasame lunged towards Ace swinging his blade wildly giving Ace little room to escape or retaliate. Cards rendered almost useless at this close distance, Ace withdrew from his belt a knife. The knife was of purest silver, etchings along the blade of tendrils of flowing script. Something in the back of Kurasame's mind recognised the blade, but in his rage he paid no notice.

 

Sparks flew as the silver blade clashed with the longer purple hazed sword, delicate pale limbs shaking as Ace tried to push back against the hold Kurasame held them in. Ace could feel his legs start to give way under the steady, constant pressure and it was only luck that let him disengage and roll out of the way before he lost his head.

 

Panting, Ace stared wide eyed at the demon before him. The yellow of his eyes was being overtaken by the furious red hazing his vision, his teeth had sharpened to razor sharp points ready to tear into flesh and bone alike. Fingers now tipped in wickedly sharp claws, blood already sluggishly running from his own palms where he clutched the hilt of his sword tightly.

 

There really was none of the man he had known left in this demon he realised. With this realisation, all of the fight drained out of Ace and he dropped his weapons.

 

Kurasame who had been about to charge forwards again, paused as though expecting this to be a trick. However Ace simply stood still, head tilted back and eyes closed. If death were coming for him this day, he did not want to see his face.

 

“What are you playing at angel?” Kurasame snarled warily, blade held at the ready.

 

“You will not stop until you have had your revenge. So here” Ace spread out his hands, exposing himself to Kurasame, “Take it here and now from me.”

 

With a scoff, Kurasame rushed forwards sword flying through the air. Several slashes to left and right fell before he retreated, the angel remaining unmoving yet unharmed before him. Dumbfounded Kurasame demanded to know what Ace was planning.

 

“Just what are you playing at _Angel?_ ” Kurasame spat the title as though it were a slur.

 

“Nothing Kurasame. You said you would not rest until we had paid for our crimes, so here I am. Take that which you want from my willing body.”

 

“No, there is no sport in taking revenge on one who does not fight.” Kurasame went to turn away in disgust before Ace's next words froze him to the spot, his rage increasing.

 

“He cried out for you, you know. Begged for them not to take you, to let him stay with you.”

 

“Stop” Kurasame growled, but Ace continued as though he had not spoken.

 

“They made him watch as you were stripped of your humanity and turned into a demon, saw your black soul laid bare for all to see. They whispered in his ears that he was worth so much more than you, could do so much better.”

 

The banked fires in Kurasame's eyes burst back into flaming life, and he advanced back on the angel standing blind and defenceless as he sprouted his nonsense.

 

“Even then he did not believe them. The took his humanity then too, turned him into one of them, but still he would not believe them. Still he wanted to remain by your side.”

 

Kurasame had reached the angel now, and there was nothing in this world that could stop him from taking his revenge on this lying bastard.

 

“They tied him to heaven with a golden cord so he could never escape.”

 

Blood burst from the angel's mouth, Kurasame's hand passing through flesh, shattering his ribs and clenching around the frantically pounding heart within. Smirking in amusement, Kurasame had not been sure that angels even possessed hearts anymore.

 

The stupid angel however kept speaking.

 

“But he took the knife that his lover had gifted to him, and he cut that cord so that he could once again find his lover.”

 

Kurasame's eyes widened in horror as his eyes fell upon the silver knife that laid upon the ground. Earlier he had felt recognition when he saw the knife, and now he knew why. He had gifted it to his lover just before he had become possessed by a demon of strife and had slain him. Wrenching his hand from within Ace's chest, the haze finally cleared from his eyes and Kurasame could finally see that the angel before him was Ace.

 

_His Ace, whom he had killed._

 

It had never been the angels that had taken Ace from him, but his own hand aided by a demon. And he had willingly let another demon kill him and turn him into one of them. And even now, after all of that, Ace had come back to him. And he had killed him again.

 

Sobbing harshly, Kurasame fell to his knees and cradled Ace to his chest tightly. He pressed Ace's hand to his chest, willing the other to send healing waves into the wound, all while knowing that nothing less than a miracle could fix the damage that he had wrought.

 

Ace laid within his hold gasping harshly for breath, blood seeping from his wound and trickling from his mouth. Rasping words, barely audible whispered from his lips.

 

“I found you again my love. I am so glad we could be together again.” Ace reached a weak, trembling hand up and drew Kurasame down for a chaste kiss.

 

When Kurasame drew back from the kiss, his lips were bloodied and eyes filled with tears. Ace laid motionless and silent in his arms, dull blue eyes staring at nothing. Kurasame howled in anguish. Why? Why had he not been able to see it sooner? Why had Ace let him kill him again! No, NO! This couldn't be happening again!

 

Kurasame sank into a deep depression holding his dead lover, eyes tracing the contours of his face. Never again did he want to forget him. It could have been minutes or hours later that Ace started to fade. It started slowly, a few sparkles of glowing blue and glow drifting up from his body, until his whole being seemed to start shimmering and dissolving into glowing sparkles. Holding on tighter, Kurasame tried to hold Ace's fading body tighter.

 

Eventually though, he was left clutching at air his screams echoing throughout the night.

 

Creeping tendrils of creeping blackness started forming beneath Kurasame slowly engulfing him. Malicious voices whispering into his ears, words of hate, of revenge and pain.

 

“ _They took him from you again.”_

 

“ _They turned him against you.”_

 

“ _We can help you, just let us in.”_

 

Filled with pain and despair, Kurasame gave into the whispered words, darkness covering him and dragging him deep into the pits of hell. The flash of sad blue eyes filled Kurasame's mind, before it was consumed by the blackness and Kurasame knew nothing more.

 


	27. "I Can't Walk"

 

Kurasame looked at his watch again a little impatiently. Ace was supposed to have met him here over twenty minutes ago, and there was currently no sign of him. Kurasame tried pulling out his phone to check if Ace had tried contacting him via text message, but there were no new notifications waiting for him.

 

Running a tired hand down his face, Kurasame began to wonder if perhaps Ace had gotten himself into trouble again. Even though he was delicate and pretty as a doll, Ace was full of fire and righteousness, though sadly lacking in the sense department. If Kurasame were really to think about where he thought that Ace might be, he could honestly tell you that Ace would probably be face down in some dirty, deserted alley and beaten to within an inch of his life.

 

Sometimes Kurasame wondered why he was friends with such a troublesome boy. Even if Ace did have the sweetest personality normally, and would gladly help any who needed it, he could definitely be more trouble that he was worth when he got it into his head to be.

 

With those thoughts in mind, Kurasame strode off in search of his missing companion. He headed towards the direction that Ace should have been coming from, checking alleyways and behind dumpsters as he went. It was nearly five minutes later that the sound of flesh meeting flesh met Kurasame's ears, and with a sense of dread he knew that he had found Ace.

 

And indeed he had. As Kurasame turned into the little hidden alley between the stalls lining the street, he could see a group of five boys kicking and punching someone on the ground. Kurasame was mildly confused as to why Ace wasn't fighting back, as normally the small boy gave just as good as he got regardless of his small size.

 

However this was the last thing on his mind as he saw one of the biggest boys bring their foot down upon Ace's leg, a sickening crack filling the air. Ace wailed in pain, but still refused to uncurl from his protective curl.

 

Kurasame rushed forwards to help his friend, yanking the boys off of him – throwing them towards the street to draw attention to them lest they try to rejoin the fight. When they realised that they had a new opponent, two of the boys turned towards Kurasame with ugly looks on their faces.

 

Spitting at Kurasame, they tried to overpower him by both rushing him at the same time. Unfortunately for them, Kurasame was well versed in self defence and easily avoided being hit. Swinging around and grabbing the arm of the closest boy, Kurasame swung him in a semi circle, bringing the boy crashing right into his waiting fist. He toppled over clutching at his nose as blood poured from the, hopefully, broken nose.

 

The other boy looked more hesitant after that, but Kurasame didn't give him a chance to retreat. These boys had attacked his friend and by the looks of it, done some pretty bad damage to him too. He would not forgive them so easily, and he would not let them get away so lightly either.

 

Two quick jabs of his fists had the boy clutching at his stomach as Kurasame swung again landing a solid hit between the eyes. Kurasame hoped that the set of panda eyes would be a warning to him not to bully others again. Turning towards the last of the bullies, Kurasame saw that at some point the cowards had fled and left Ace bleeding and alone on the ground.

 

Reaching out to touch Ace's shoulder, Kurasame was startled as Ace flinched bodily away from him. Realising his mistake, Kurasame spoke quietly to Ace letting him know who it was that was there with him. Relieved blue eyes peered up at Kurasame from his swollen face, and his cracked and bleeding lips grinned at him.

 

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Kurasame demanded to know what Ace thought he was smiling at getting so beaten up and not even trying to fight back. Slowly uncurling himself, Ace revealed the small bedraggled puppy that he had been protecting. Ace explained that on his way to meet with Kurasame, he had seen the other boys trying to hurt the poor puppy and had raced over to protect it.

 

Of course this had angered them, and they had decided to beat up Ace instead. To Ace this was a fair trade, as the puppy was completely unharmed and he himself would heal with time, less if his sister was feeling generous and cast a cure on him.

 

Shaking his head at his friend, Kurasame offered his hand to help Ace up. It was only as Ace gathered the puppy in his arms and staggered to his feet, that they both remembered the crack of Ace's leg when one of the boys' had stomped on it. Tentatively trying to put weight on it, Ace nearly went tumbling back to the ground as pain shot up his leg. Gritting his teeth stubbornly, Ace tried to hobble forwards as Kurasame raised his eyes skyward at his friends' stupidity.

 

“You can't walk like that.” Kurasame stated flatly to the stubborn blonde.

 

“Yes I can.” Ace replied heatedly. “Just watch me.”

 

And Kurasame did, he watched as Ace managed to move all of two or three centimetres before turning bone white and almost passing out from pain. Quickly grabbing hold of Ace's arm, Kurasame stared down at Ace with raised brows.

 

“Ok....so maybe I can't walk.” Ace conceded reluctantly.

 

With a snort of derision, Kurasame bit back the sarcastic retort that was just on the tip of his tongue. Carefully, he scooped both Ace and the puppy up, trying not to jostle any injuries and headed towards Ace's home. When they hit the street, they received many looks from people on the street, but Kurasame ignored them all. He had no time for people who judged others as they did, especially as many of them would have heard and ignored the commotion that was going on.

 

It took Kurasame nearly double the time it normally would have to make it to Ace's home as he was carrying extra weight, and he was met with shouts of not quite alarm, Ace got into scuffles way too regularly for them to be alarmed at seeing him beat up, but warning. Soon the rest of the household rushed out to meet them, the younger lot excited and cooing over the puppy who was ecstatic to have so much attention laved on it.

 

At the direction of the older lot, Kurasame walked inside and carried Ace to one of the lounges in the living room. The more medically inclined sibling ordered the others to fetch water and towels to clean up the bloody, and set to work examining and cataloguing Ace's injuries. When she reached Ace's leg however she hissed in sympathy. That wasn't something that she could fix with a cure. From what she could see, everything else could be easily fixed, but that leg would have to heal the hard way.

 

Ace pouted up at her when she told him that he would have to stay off of the leg for at least a few weeks, but soon turned a mischievous look on Kurasame.

 

“It's ok. Kurasame will carry me while I can't walk.”

 

Kurasame could only cover his face with his hands and groan, what had he started?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel the Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes vibe....


	28. Severe Illness

 

Kurasame sat at his local diner stirring his coffee idly when his eyes were drawn to the young blonde man who had just entered. The man shuffled in dejectedly, looking around for an empty table to sit at only to see that all the tables were occupied. Not really understanding why, Kurasame lifted a hand to attract his attention, and motioned the other to come share his table. With a nod of thanks, the blonde seated himself opposite Kurasame.

 

Up close, Kurasame could see the dark bags beneath dulled blue eyes, fatigue written clearly across his face. The blonde was much too thin to be healthy, his hands seemed to tremble with minute tremors that he seemed helpless to prevent. Not normally one to make idle conversation with strangers, Kurasame felt drawn to this person.

 

“Hi, I'm Kurasame. Would you like me to buy you a coffee?”

 

The blonde looked up from where he had been staring at the table top, startled.

 

“Oh erm, hello Kurasame. It is nice to meet you. My name is Ace.” Ace seemed to fumble his words as though surprised to be spoken to. Honestly, Kurasame was surprised that he had spoken himself.

 

“There is no need to buy me a coffee though, I can get it myself.”

 

However Ace made no motion to flag down a waitress, seeming to have no energy to do so. Kurasame made the decision to order him a drink and maybe something to eat too. Waving down the nearest worker, Kurasame placed his order.

 

“How can I help you folks?” The friendly waitress asked holding up an order pad.

 

“Hey could I get two coffees please and a chicken salad sandwich? Thanks.”

 

With a smile she left to place his order with the kitchen, and Kurasame turned back to observe his table-mate. Ace had withdrawn a list from his coat pocket and seemed to be studying it intently. Not wanting to pry, Kurasame tried not to look down at the paper but noticed the words 'bucket list' printed neatly at the top. Surprised that someone as young as Ace would have such a list, Kurasame looked worriedly at the other.

 

Ace sighed as he looked down at his list. There were so many things that he wanted to do, but the steady decline of his health meant that work had been scarce and money even harder to come by. Without a steady income, Ace was struggling just to keep a roof over his head and food in his belly, not to mention the myriad of medications that he needed each month.

 

Sighing heavily Ace looked up and saw that Kurasame was observing him quietly. Flushing a little in embarrassment, Ace realised that he was being a little rude ignoring the other man even if they were just sharing the table and not friends. Readying himself to put his list away, Ace was startled when the other man reached out hesitantly to look.

 

“If I may?” Kurasame enquired softly.

 

Dumbfounded, Ace nodded and handed over the list without comment. Kurasame turned the list towards himself and read over a few of the entries.

 

  * _Go on a hot balloon ride_

  * _Go skydiving_

  * _Learn how to play chess_

  * _Learn how to swim_




 

The last two entries on the list were the ones that drew Kurasame's attention the most though.

 

  * **_Have my first kiss_**

  * **_Fall in love_**




 

The last two entries seemed to hold a lot more importance to Ace than the others as they were written in bold writing and underlined several times.

 

Looking up the the man before him in surprise, Kurasame noticed the flush of embarrassment that coloured Ace's cheeks.

 

“Look I know that they are all pretty stupid things, but they are all things that I have wanted to do forever.”

 

“No no, they're not stupid.” Kurasame replied sincerely. “I was just surprised that a man as young as you would be thinking about this now.”

 

Ace looked sadly back at Kurasame before replying quietly.

 

“I...I'm pretty sick at the moment. And it's stupid, but I wanted to be able to push myself into doing these things as a way to push through my illness. Sadly I can't keep a job and that means that most of the things on my list are out of my reach.”

 

The pair fall silent as the waitress delivers their food an drinks, Ace looking questioningly at Kurasame as both a coffee and sandwich are placed before him.

 

“Eat, drink. You look like you need it.” Kurasame encouraged.

 

With a thankful smile, Ace dug into the food before him. He couldn't remember the last time that he had eaten something better than a cup of noodles.

 

Kurasame sipped his coffee, silently pondering. After many minutes of introspection, Kurasame realised that he was bored with life. He had been abandoned as a child and had worked his arse off ever since to _be_ _someone,_ but now that he had founded his own company, he had nothing left to work for. Life had become dull and meaningless, just more and more meetings while others argued over how to make even more money.

 

This young man before him seemingly offered him a chance to do something worthwhile again. There was something about Ace that drew Kurasame's attention. Perhaps it was the way that even though life had gotten him down, he didn't seem willing to give up his dreams. Or maybe it was the inner strength that Kurasame could see lurking within his eyes. It was then that Kurasame realised – even if he barely knew this man, he didn't want him to die.

 

Kurasame wondered to himself, how he could convince Ace to let him help tick off some of the things on his bucket list. Maybe if he phrased it as things that he himself had also wanted to try but never wanted to do alone? Would Ace agree to that? Kurasame didn't know the other man well enough to be able to guess if that tactic would work, but there was no harm in trying right?

 

“Ace...” Ace paused mid-chew to look up at the previously lost in thought man.

 

“These things on your list....I was wondering if perhaps you would not mind if I accompanied you? There are many things here that I myself have long wanted to experience, but I have never had another who would be willing to accompany me.”

 

Ace swallowed harshly, looking down at his plate.

 

“Kurasame, as much as I would love to go with you on these adventures, I am afraid that I cannot afford to do so.”

 

“It would be my pleasure to cover your expenses as well Ace, to compensate you for having a stranger butt in on your time.”

 

“I couldn't possibly....” Ace began, only to be cut off by Kurasame.

 

“Please Ace I insist. Lately I have felt so down and lonely, and just the thought of getting to go out and do things with another person has brought the spark back into my life.”

 

There was no way that Ace felt that he could argue with that, and so he reluctantly agreed. The two men exchanged numbers and Kurasame told Ace that he would let him know when he had arranged the first adventure. Ace asked what Kurasame was going to try first, but the other man merely smiled and told him that it would be a surprise.

 

It was a few days later that the two men met at an airfield. Ace was simultaneously elated and terrified to find out that they would be skydiving today. After the quick introduction, the boys got suited up in the jumpsuits, harnesses and goggles. They were strapped to their tandem instructor, and then manoeuvred their way awkwardly into the light plane waiting for them.

 

Anticipation thrummed through their veins, only increasing as they sat hanging out of the plane before their instructor pushed them forwards into their free fall. Arms widespread, head being pushed back, Ace felt free of his burdens. The sudden jerk of the parachute opening jolted Ace back to reality, and turning his head he could see Kurasame and his instructor drifting just off to their left. Exchanging bright smiles, the two were guided to bring themselves safely down to the landing zones where they skidded to a stop on their behinds.

 

Thanking the instructors profusely, the two men were riding their highs when Ace felt his head scream in pain and his legs buckle beneath him. Shouting out in alarm, Kurasame grabbed ahold of Ace before he could hit the ground, and guided him gently over to the conveniently placed bench. Waving the concerned man off, Ace just said it was a side effect of his illness and nothing to be too concerned about. Doubtfully, Kurasame decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

Kurasame watched Ace like a hawk after their early morning hot air balloon flight, the world a beautiful vista spread out beneath them for their viewing pleasure. Thankfully, nothing like last time happened to Ace, and Kurasame left him at his door with plans to learn chess from an old friend who was apparently a master.

 

Little did Kurasame know, but after he left Ace suffered a major seizure and ended up unconscious for the better part of a day, only coming to a few hours before Kurasame was due to pick him up again. Determined not to let that stop him, Ace cleaned himself up of all evidence and changed his clothes.

 

It became obvious after less than an hour, that although Ace could grasp the general rules of the game, he would never become a chess master. His mind was just not tactical enough, and he rushed his moves more often than not. Kurasame on the other hand proved to be quite a formidable opponent, though honestly the game didn't hold his whole attention.

 

Learning to swim was both hilarious and embarrassing for Ace. Being made to wear a floatation device at his age made him want to shrivel up and die on the spot. In the end though, he left the pool with a shiny new certificate stating that he could at the very least doggy paddle and that was good enough for him.

 

Each time the two men ticked something new off of Ace's list, it grew harder and harder to separate and go their separate ways afterwards. So instead of leaving straight away, Kurasame would accompany Ace home and the two would often chat late into the night, sometimes even popping out to get dinner together. The two lonely men grew closer and closer, but for Ace a huge secret stood in the way of anything deeper developing.

 

Kurasame often wondered just what illness it was that ailed Ace, and when he asked Ace would normally try to avoid the subject. When asked if there was a cure, Ace sadly looked at Kurasame and steadily replied,

 

“There is no cure for what I have Kurasame.”

 

Somewhat disheartened by those words, Kurasame was determined to get to know the other man even better. Over the months that they had spent together, Kurasame had begun to feel lighter. The dragging heaviness that had plagued him was dissipating, leaving him feeling happier than he had in a long time. And he owed it all to Ace. To the man with the heartbreakingly beautiful smile, with the gentle words and softer hands that pulled Kurasame along to bathe in his shining aura of peace and acceptance.

 

It would have been obvious to a blind man, but it took Kurasame another few months to realise that he had fallen in love with Ace. Desperate to tell the other man of his feelings, and hopeful that they would also be returned, Kurasame was dismayed when he saw the condition of the other man when he next saw him.

 

It had only been a couple of days since they had last met up, not for another bucket list adventure, but merely for coffee and a chat, but it was obvious that Ace's condition had deteriorated. His skin, always pale, now looked nearly translucent and sickly. The eyes that slowly been growing with life, had dulled again and looked glazed and unfocused. Shining blonde hair and turned thin and wispy, patches almost seemed to be missing if Kurasame looked closer.

 

Kurasame's heart wept. He could tell that Ace's illness was taking it's toll on him, and that soon their adventures would have to come to a stop. There were not many things left on the list, a few things that required time and preparation were left, besides the last two entries. Those last two, Kurasame himself was hoping to help Ace tick off. Approaching Ace where he sat at what they now considered 'their' booth at the diner where they first met, Kurasame offered up a smile to the other man.

 

Ace returned the smile tiredly, physically and emotionally drained. He knew the time to come clean about his condition was here, and he also knew that he shouldn't be so selfish as to confess the feelings he had tried to suppress for the other man, but he wanted Kurasame to know how he felt about him before the end.

 

“Ace...” Kurasame began, only for Ace to hold a hand up to stop him.

 

“Kurasame,” Ace croaked out. “I have something I have to tell you.”

 

Kurasame sat up straighter in his seat. Perhaps Ace already knew what Kurasame had been about to confess and had decided to do it first? His world quickly came crashing down at Ace's next words.

 

“Kurasame, I haven't been entirely truthful with you. I told you that I have an illness, but that is not strictly true.”

 

Kurasame looked shocked and a little hurt about being lied to, but gestured for Ace to continue.

 

“I have a brain tumour.”

 

Kurasame's world came screeching to a halt. A brain tumour. No cure. Ace's declining condition. Ace was going to die.....and soon. A choked sob tore from Kurasame's throat at this realisation, Ace reaching out to try to comfort the other man. An hysterical laugh tried to burst forth at the idea that Ace would be trying to comfort him. He wasn't the one who was dying, who had lived with the knowledge that every day could be his last.

 

“I'm sorry for not telling you sooner.” Ace nearly whispered.

 

“It's....I mean it's not ok I don't want you to die, but I understand why you didn't want to say anything.” Kurasame choked out. “Can we maybe head somewhere more private to talk some more?”

 

Ace nodded quietly, and Kurasame laid some money on the table to cover their orders. It was just as they were rounding the table that things fell apart. A sudden stumble from Ace had Kurasame rushing back to his side to support him, but unlike normal, Ace fell into a severe seizure. Kurasame tried to hold the other man as closely to himself as possible, to avoid Ace hurting either himself of others, but there seemed to be no end.

 

Then all of a sudden Ace went completely slack in his grip, breaths stuttering in his chest. Yelling out in alarm for someone to call an ambulance, Kurasame gently lowered Ace to the ground, someone providing a jacket to place beneath his head. Thanking the other absent-mindedly, Kurasame could only pray that this wasn't the end.

 

The ambulance arrived quickly, and Kurasame all but demanded they take him with them. Not willing to waste time arguing with the other man, they manoeuvred Ace into the back of the van and sped of towards the nearest hospital.

 

Kurasame sat beside the deathly still Ace holding his hand tightly, begging the other to wake. His prayers going unanswered, Kurasame laid his head beside Ace's on the bed whispering to him.

 

“I love you, you know? I didn't mean to fall in love with you, and I'm not even sure when it happened. It was just one day I woke up and realised that I did. I really hope that you love me too, then we can tick that off of your bucket list too eh? And about that first kiss.....?”

 

Kurasame sobbed brokenly. Somehow he knew that Ace would not wake again and that this was his last chance to say goodbye. Leaning forwards, ignoring the paramedic who sat watching, Kurasame brushed a chaste kiss upon Ace's dry lips. Tears fell from Kurasame's eyes as the heart monitor hooked up to Ace turned from an unsteady beeping to the tonal flat sound proclaiming the heart had stopped.

 

“I love you Ace.” Kurasame whispered as he was pushed back by the paramedic who frantically tried to resuscitate his patient.

 

The ambulance screeched to a halt, finally at the hospital, but they were too late. There was nothing they could do to revive Ace and Kurasame was left feeling empty once again.

 

At home again, Kurasame sat back holding Ace's list, he had crossed off the most important things to Ace, but the other man would never know. Sadness filled him as he saw the few things that Ace had never gotten to do left un-ticked. With a sudden determination, Kurasame rose for his seat and made several calls.

 

It took weeks for his plans to come to fruition, but finally Kurasame had managed to mark off the last of Ace's bucket list adventures. He crouched before Ace's grave, a handful of photos clutched in his trembling hands. He quietly told Ace all about each picture as he laid it on the newly turned earth. When all of the pictures were laid out, Kurasame gently placed Ace's bucket list on top of them all.

 

“Thank you Ace, for coming into my life and helping me become a better man. Thank you for bringing your light into my life, even if it was only for a short time. I love you Ace, and I hope that one day I can join you in the afterlife.”

 

The gentle breeze that brushed past Kurasame felt like the touch of hand upon his face, and it filled him with peace.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hmm not sure a brain tumour is an illness per se...but that's what you're getting because I've had this idea knocking around in my head for ages and this was my opportunity to use it.


	29. Seizure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fits in with Severe Illness.

 

Complete and utter awe filled Ace.

 

He had been mildly grumpy when he had found out that hot air ballooning was something that was done very early in the morning, but now up in the air Ace could not muster up a single complaint. The drive out to the location earlier had been filled with anticipation and nerves, both men not too sure how it would all work out.

 

They had been met by a cheerful young woman who introduced herself as their guide, and they quickly got set up and were soon rising up into the air with a blast of fiery air. Leaning out as far as he felt safe, Ace brought his camera up to his eye and snapped picture after picture of the scenery. He even took photos of Kurasame and their guide, turning the camera to take a quick smiling selfie too.

 

The cool breeze gently pushed the basket they were in, and Ace stumbled a little before Kurasame placed a steadying hand upon his arm. With a smile of thanks, Ace leant into Kurasame's side commenting on the beauty of the day and thanking the other for arranging everything.

 

To both of their embarrassment, the guide laughingly commented on how cute a couple they made, and how romantic she thought Kurasame was being. With red faces and hidden feelings in their hearts, the boys quickly corrected her by saying that they were just friends. Apologising quickly, the awkward moment soon passed as the sun began to peek over the horizon. Ace's camera raised once again to capture this once in a lifetime moment.

 

Kurasame and Ace were both disappointed when the ride finally came to an end, neither had wanted the experience to finish. Their guide had laughingly told them to give her a call again if they wanted another ride, and because they were such a handsome pair she would even give them a discount. With a wink and a wave, she left the two blushing males on their own.

 

The beginning of the ride home was a little bit strained after the guides' words, but Ace could not hold back his excitement for long and soon started chattering away to Kurasame. At a few of the red lights along the way, Ace held up the camera and showed some of the pictures he had taken. Kurasame could not believe how well the pictures had turned out, and wondered if he could get a copy of the picture of he and Ace together with the sun rising behind them.

 

Kurasame was a little sad to be dropping Ace off so early, but he knew that the other was probably very tired after the early morning start that they had had. So he walked Ace to his door, and with a quick friendly tap on his shoulder, Kurasame left with the promise to meet up again the next afternoon for chess lessons.

 

Ace entered his house quickly, and placed his phone and camera down on the conveniently placed table by the door. His footsteps were shaky at best and Ace was trying to make it to a safe area before he passed out. Unfortunately for Ace, the seizure hit him fast and hard, legs falling out from beneath him with little warning.

 

Tremors wracked his small frame, limbs jerking uncontrollably one of his legs catching on a small side table sending it crashing to the floor. Ace could feel his eyes rolling back into his head and his mouth start to foam just before he lost consciousness.

 

When Ace came to he was soaked with sweat and his limbs felt sore and heavy. Noticing that the sun was still high in the sky, he thought that not much time had passed. A thought that was soon proven wrong when he finally managed to pull himself to his phone and saw the date. Shock passed through Ace at that knowledge, he had never had it so bad before that he had blacked out for a while day.

 

Ace briefly wondered if he should call Kurasame and cancel their plans for today, but then he remembered that today was the only day that his friend had been available to teach them chess. With that thought in mind, Ace dragged himself to his feet, and righted his side table before shuffling into to the bathroom to shower off all of the visible evidence of his attack.

 

The hot water pounding down on his sore muscles felt amazing, though tiredness still tried to drag his eyes closed once again. Drying and dressing in clean clothes was almost more than Ace could cope with, but he pushed past that and had a glass of water and some dried crackers. Anything heavier and Ace was sure that he would not be able to keep it down.

 

A knock on his door let Ace know just how late it had gotten, and just how long he had been sitting staring into space. Heaving himself to his feet, Ace plastered a smile on his face and opened the door to Kurasame. He must have been convincing enough since Kurasame didn't seem to notice anything wrong and after grabbing his keys and camera again, they headed off to learn to play chess.

 

 

 

Ace was seizure free for the next few months, a feat that he could only be thankful for. He sat across from Kurasame in 'their' booth at the diner where they met, and he knew that it was time to finally come clean about his illness.

 

The stress of the situation, of finally telling Kurasame the truth and wanting to confess his feelings as well, sent Ace spiralling into his worst seizure to date. Vaguely Ace heard Kurasame call out to him as he stumbled, legs seemingly loosing all their strength before the tremors set in. Kurasame's warm presence filled Ace with comfort as his body started to seize, teeth biting down harshly on his own tongue causing blood to dribble from between his lips.

 

An urgent voice called out to Ace, warm hands holding him tightly to prevent his jerking limbs from hurting himself or others. Kurasame had somehow managed to manoeuvre Ace so that he was face to face with him, and just as Ace's vision started going dark, lungs starved for air, he caught sight of Kurasame's panic filled eyes.

 

' _I'm sorry Kurasame.'_ Ace thought. _'I never meant for this to happen. Please don't be sad. I love you.'_

 

Those final thoughts filled Ace's mind as consciousness slipped from his grasp for the final time.

 


	30. Caregiver

 

When Kurasame arrived at his work, a sense of anticipation filled the air. Staff were rushing to prepare for the new influx of arrivals, and not a moment could be spared for chit chat. Heading to the locker room to change into his scrubs, Kurasame pondered on how many new patients they would be receiving today.

 

It was not usual to receive a large number of transfers like they were currently preparing for, but a plumbing problem had caused the need to re home their patients temporarily to prevent any unnecessary complications.

 

Dressed now in his blue scrubs, Kurasame exited the looker room and helped to prepare the newly vacated rooms. Stripping and remaking beds, scrubbing and disinfecting all of the surfaces and placing any left over items from drawers into clearly labelled boxes for collection. The rumble of the transport pulling into the facility drew Kurasame's attention, and he along with the other staff, hurried to finish his task and go out to meet the new arrivals.

 

It didn't take long for everyone to line up in the front hall, burly but gentle orderlies helping the arrivals to enter. Some were leaning on canes, others being pushed in wheelchairs, though there were a couple who also walked in under their own steam, taking in their surroundings with a sense of curiosity.

 

Each new person was introduced to each other and the staff, and they wished them all a happy stay. Each member of the staff walked over to their new patient, ready to show them to their room and get to know them better as they would be their primary daytime carer.

 

As Kurasame made his way over to his patient he looked down at his information. _'Huh, his name is Ace.'_ Kurasame thought with a vague sense of familiarity. Quickly dismissing the feeling, as he had met a lot of different people while working here, Kurasame stopped before one of the people who had had to be wheeled in.

 

Memory slammed into Kurasame as he met bright blue eyes for the first time in over one hundred years. He remembered when the world had been at war, he a Commander in Rubrum's forces. He remembered the cadet that he had fallen in love with over time, their forbidden romance flourishing. Then he remembered his punishment, and dying out on the battlefield only his prayers that his lover would survive filling his mind. Kurasame remembered the nothingness that surrounded him, until twenty five years ago he had been reborn.

 

Kurasame watched as recognition filled Ace's eyes as they stared deeply into his own, watched as realisation and resignation filled them. Ace turned his head, breaking contact with Kurasame's eyes, no longer able to look his former lover in the eyes. For years after being reborn he had searched for Kurasame, unable to find him, only to now discover that the other had not yet been reborn. Fate had been cruel to let them meet again, when one of them was just starting their journey in life, and the other nearly ready to finish his.

 

“Ace,” Kurasame whispered, reverent.

 

Ace stubbornly kept his head turned away, and though it hurt him, Kurasame understood. Without another word, he got behind the wheelchair, and carefully guided it towards Ace's new room. On arrival, Kurasame gently helped Ace to manoeuvre onto the bed, settling the pillows and blankets around him.

 

And still Ace would not look at him.

 

Quietly informing Ace of meal times and social get togethers, Kurasame left the other man to himself. Never once had Kurasame believed that he would have the chance to meet Ace again, and yet now that he had he couldn't help but be thankful. Here was a chance to be with his lover, to look after him as he had always wished that he could. And even if Ace wasn't as young as Kurasame himself, Kurasame vowed to care for him until his time came to an end.

 

The first meal time since the new patients arrived, came and went, and there was not a sign of Ace to be found. Worried that the other man might be trying to avoid him, Kurasame slipped out of the dining hall and made his way swiftly to Ace's room. A courtesy knock on the door garnered no response, and now more worried, Kurasame pushed it open and peered inside.

 

When he saw Ace lying on the bed, sweaty and writhing in pain, Kurasame quickly raced in and hit the nurse call button for help. It didn't take long before several other nurses rushed into the room, the resident doctor following closely on their heels. Taking in the patient's condition, the doctor soon checked him over and had the nurses administer a mild sedative and pain relief.

 

Once Ace was once again lying quietly, the doctor inserted an IV to keep him hydrated and added some antibiotics to help fight of the infection he seemed to have picked up. With a nod and a wave, the doctor left the nurses to take care of the rest, while he returned to his office to wait for the next call.

 

Kurasame and another nurse ended up having to strip and change Ace, sponging the sweat off of his body as another couple of nurses worked to change the sweaty sheets. It took them all less than twenty minutes, and when the tasks were completed the others left Kurasame to keep watch while they returned to the dining hall.

 

Kurasame pulled a chair up to the side of the bed and watched over Ace as he slept. When he later awoke groggy and sore, Kurasame fed him a light soup that he had collected from the kitchens, and held the glass of water to his trembling lips. He helped Ace to use the bedpan, no matter how embarrassed Ace felt at that, and settled him down for the night before finally handing over his care to the night nurse on duty.

 

Each day afterwards was the same. Although they were expecting Ace's condition to improve, the treatments did not seem to have any visible effect on the older man. Each day he looked a little more gaunt, skin pulling tight over his bones as he lost weight. His once bright eyes started to dull, and that scared Kurasame more than anything else. He could not remember a time in their previous lives where Ace's eyes had lost their fire and sparkle, and he dreaded the day when they would stare unseeing with a lack of life behind them.

 

The tenth day dawned, and Kurasame knew that today something was going to happen. It started out with Ace finally meeting Kurasame's eyes for the first time since his arrival, acceptance and love shown clearly with the orbs. When Kurasame had finished helping Ace eat and was ready to leave the other man to rest, Ace quietly asked for him to stay.

 

“ _Stay_ please.” He nearly begged. “Hold me.”

 

Kurasame could not refuse his request, and climbed up onto the bed with Ace, holding him close. Kurasame held him tightly as though if he held loosened his grip, Ace would disappear. In the end though, it didn't matter. Snuggled into Kurasame's side, Ace let out a final shudder before falling still. Kurasame knew without looking that Ace had passed on, and tears fell from his eyes landing upon that head of silvery blonde hair.

 


	31. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it's done, and I managed to get a story out each day. I hope you enjoyed reading them all :)

 

With a final loud crack of the gun, the last enemy fell before Class Zero in a spray of crimson that stained their clothes. With a muted grimace of disgust, Cater wiped the liquid off of her face as she turned towards her comrades.

 

Gone were their pristine uniforms, long since coated in the mud and other things associated with being on a battlefield. Their chosen and favoured weapons lay abandoned in their lost fortress when they were ambushed, lucky to escape with their lives. They were all armed with guns and rifles now, and some of them were coping with the change in weapon better than others.

 

There had been many close calls, when they had gone to attack, only to remember that they now wielded a gun, one that did not have infinite ammunition. They were all tired and battle weary, but there was no safe place for them to rest, the enemy lurked seemingly around every corner, ready to attack those not ready.

 

Class Zero could not believe the situation that they found themselves in. People whom they had considered comrades and even friends had turned against them, forcing them to fight. Their commanders had abandoned them to their fate, and they knew that if they wanted this massacre to end, that they would have to fight and defeat the one pulling all of the strings before it was too late.

 

The sound of a foot scuffing against the pavement near the wall they had taken cover behind was the only warning the cadets received, before another wave of gunfire was heading towards them. By now they had a pretty good system going though, those less useful at shooting would load up their own guns and hand them over to the better shooters when their gun ran empty.

 

The shooters would wait for a lull in shots being fired before leaning out or over their cover and returning shot after shot. Shouts of pain and dismay followed as they continued to take down the new wave. Finally it all fell silent, and the cadets stealthily made their way further back into the fortress looking to reclaim it.

 

The sound of approaching footsteps had them panicking for a moment, should they hide or fight? Deciding to hide to conserve their ammunition, they all dived into a side room hoping that the person coming towards them wouldn't want to enter the room.

 

Turning around, they were alarmed to see their commander, Kurasame, tied to a chair in the far corner. Racing over to help the man, he explained that he had been left there after he refused to help with the fight. Looking amongst themselves, the Class Zero cadets handed Kurasame a loaded gun and told him to follow them. They said that they understood if he didn't want to fight, but they did not want to leave him unarmed in case they were attacked again.

 

Turning the corner of course brought them right into the midst of a patrol looking for them. Shots were being fired by both sides at random, Class Zero retreating back around the corner for cover. A shot from Kurasame managed to hit what appeared to be their captain, and without orders the rest seemed unable to coordinate with each other. They soon fell to the combined might of Class Zero and Kurasame.

 

As they ran down the hall, Kurasame paused saying that he thought that he had heard something down one of the corridors that they had passed. Looking at each other, none of the others could recall hearing anything, but they decided that Nine would go with Kurasame to investigate and hopefully they would all meet back up near the hall where the commanders where situated.

 

The rest crept their way towards their target location. A few short scuffles here and there occurred, as they tried to keep the noise level down so that their arrival would be a surprise. Making it to the location, the cadets were both confused and worried that Nine and Kurasame weren't waiting for them. They decided to wait a few minutes, but they could wait for too much longer lest they were discovered by a passing patrol. Instead they waited patiently and made sure that all the guns were loaded fully and any pieces of armour that they had found were adorned correctly. They had managed to locate a few old wooden shields in one of the store rooms, so they handed those out to the non shooters of the group.

 

After another five minutes had passed, they decided that there was no way that they could wait any longer for this final showdown. Gathering together their courage and strength, they pushed the doors open with a bang and rushed in guns drawn, shields held before them.

 

To their shock, Nine and Kurasame were already within the room. But instead of them both being held captive, Kurasame stood at the head of the room holding Nine in an impossible to break hold, the gun that they had provided him pressed into his spine.

 

“Welcome Class Zero. I see that the knowledge is finally dawning on you that you fell right into my trap.”

 

Behind his mask, Kurasame smirked. The looks of shock and outrage on their faces was beautiful and had been well worth the risk. That and well, he could never turn down a chance to put this loud-mouthed cadet in his place.

 

With a loud cry of outrage, Queen rushed forwards gun drawn. She fired two shots towards Kurasame before one of the commanders lining the wall managed to land a hit on her. Red blooming from the hit across her abdomen, a look of disbelief spreading across her face before she fell to the ground.

 

The other cadets stared in horror as she fell, their eyes slowly turning back towards the man they had once called comrade and friend. For Ace, the betrayal was worse, for this was a man that he called lover. But lover or not, Ace could not let this situation continue. Not with class pitted against class as the higher ups watched and laughed. Not as they sat in their gilded tower and planned their demise.

 

Looking Ace dead in the eyes, Kurasame pulled the trigger of his gun. Nine flinched at the shot, a pained groan leaving his lips as he was dropped to the ground with negligence, the dark wet patch spreading rapidly across his back. Ace lurched forwards towards his brother, before strong arms held him back. Sense returned to Ace slowly, as the rage burned hot in his veins. He would avenge his siblings if it was the last thing he did.

 

“Let's finish this,” Ace hissed at his remaining siblings. “But Kurasame, that bastard is _mine_!”

 

Nodded in agreement, the remaining 10 cadets of Class Zero attacked. Shots were being fired from both sides, bodies hitting the floor with pained grunts. Neither side was managing to overpower the other, and though Class Zero had more people fighting, the sheer experience of the commanders combined with Kurasame's ruthless orders meant that they were soon faced with a stalemate.

 

Calling out to his furious lover, Kurasame suggested that they save their ammunition and join together. Ace spat in his direction, letting him know in extremely colourful language just what he thought of that idea. Kurasame was a little taken aback, not having known that his lover had the vocabulary of a sailor. He soon recovered his wits, and instead suggested a one on one – Kurasame against Ace.

 

The cadets cried out that the challenge was unfair, while the remaining commanders smirked at what they perceived as an easy victory. With a determined nod, Ace accepted the challenge. He gathered together as many guns as he could carry, or shove into pockets or belts, took one of the shields and walked as confidently as he could towards Kurasame.

 

Offering up a mocking salute to his former commander, the gesture was returned in kind, the twinkle in Kurasame's eyes mocking Ace. The shouted 'fight' from the sidelines was their cue to begin. Shot after shot was fired, both men using different methods to shield themselves. Ace used his wooden shield to duck behind when he couldn't move quickly enough, though Kurasame used a magic shield instead.

 

Ace's mind raced, he wondered how much MP Kurasame currently had left, and if he kept shooting would he be able to deplete it and shatter the man's shield. This plan would of course only work if Kurasame wasn't currently carrying any ethers to replenish his MP, but Ace had a feeling that he wasn't. With that thought in mind, Ace fired a volley of shots towards Kurasame in quick succession, giving the man no pause.

 

The slight widening of Kurasame's eyes was the only indication of his alarm, as he shield wavered for a moment before he poured more MP into it. Once his gun was empty, instead of discarding it like he normally would, Ace decided to throw that at Kurasame's shield too. The shout of outrage from the man, caused Ace to smile at him with barred teeth. Ace ended up going through three guns before Kurasame's shield finally shattered.

 

With a cry of triumph, Ace charged at Kurasame with his shield held before him knocking the other man flat on his back. Throwing the shield to the side, Ace kicked Kurasame's guns from his hands and stood over him, twin pistols aimed to kill. It was then that Kurasame tried to beg for mercy, but Ace sneered at him as he pulled the triggers.

 

“ _Never!_ ”

 

BANG! BANG! The two shots rang out in the silent hall, ending the conflict. Crimson liquid once again staining Ace's smirking face. It was over, and they had won.

 

“Victory! Class Zero Cadets!” The announcement blared from the speakers placed around Akademeia, as the 'dead' finally picked themselves up from off the ground.

 

Kurasame groaned from beneath Ace as he brought his hands up to his aching chest.

 

“Damn Ace, you are brutal. Two shots to the chest from close range. I also see you are wearing my 'blood' like war paint too.”

 

Ace simply smirked at his lover, offering him a hand up as he wiped the paint from his sweaty face.

 

“Well you were being an ass. And you didn't tell me you were going to be involved today. A heads up would have been nice you know.”

 

Kurasame merely smirked back at the pouting Ace.

 

“Ah but where is the fun in that?” He was interrupted by an angry Nine storming over.

 

“What the hell yo? Was it really necessary to shoot me point blank in the back and then drop me?”

 

Kurasame stared blankly back at Nine.

 

“Yes.” He replied deadpan.

 

Nine shuffled off complaining about the bruises that he was going to be sporting the next day.

 

“Speaking of bruises...” Kurasame began. “I'm going to be all black and blue tomorrow, will you come to my room tonight to kiss me better?”

 

Ace rolled his eyes at his devious lover, but agreed to go anyway. However it was only a moment later that he exclaimed in shock.

 

“Oh shit! We need to remember where we stashed Machina and Rem and let them out!”

 

Looking askance at Ace, Kurasame asked why they had been locked up in the first place.

 

“I don't know. They were acting dodgy so we decided to get rid of them before they betrayed us. Plus Machina was being annoying and Rem wouldn't go along with getting rid of them.”

 

Kurasame laughed and he followed Ace to find the missing cadets. He couldn't help but hope that the Chancellor arranged another day like today again, it had been both fun and good training for the cadets.

 

Yeah, a school wide paint-ball war between commanders and classes had been a brilliant idea.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I didn't feel like ending with angst.
> 
> Though I think this is better than the stupid idea I had for the broken ribs prompt.  
> My mind decided that the boys went to a BBQ restaurant and ordered ribs that they broke apart to eat, and the angst would be that they would fight over who got to eat the last rib.  
> A little sad that I didn't end up going with that, but at least I had some proper angst that day....


End file.
